European stocks gained ground Wednesday, with tech shares still clawing back losses logged earlier in the week, as investors waited for confirmation from the Federal Reserve that the U.S. economy is strong enough for another interest-rate rise.

The Dow industrials closed Wednesday at a record for a second straight session but other benchmarks finished lower as the Federal Reserve hiked the fed-funds futures rate after its two-day policy meeting, as expected, and indicated that it would reduce its $4.5 trillion balance sheet "this year."

Asia-Pacific stocks were lower as investors took profits, after a muted reaction in U.S. markets to the Federal Reserve's rate rise and plan to start shrinking its balance sheet. Following earlier gains, stocks in Australia, Hong Kong and South Korea were down nearly 1% in Thursday morning trading.