European stocks closed in the green Tuesday, with smart-card maker Gemalto NV and retail giant Steinhoff Holdings NV scoring notable gains. Energy shares also rose after oil prices marched higher in the wake of a key pipeline outage.

The S&P 500 and the Dow closed at records for a fourth session in a row Tuesday as the Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day meeting, but the Nasdaq bucked the trend to head south. The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to announce its third and final interest-rate hike of 2017 on Wednesday, but investors want to see what the policy-making body signals about 2018.

Asian stocks were mixed Wednesday following overnight gains on Wall Street as investors looked ahead to a likely U.S. interest rate hike.