European shares nearly flat ahead of Fed's expected rate hike

European shares broadly held their ground on Wednesday morning following limited gains on Asian stock markets ahead of a widely expected rate hike by the Federal Reserve in the United States.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.03 per cent by 0717 GMT after rising during the previous session with energy stocks buoyed by Brent crude prices at four-year highs.

The top gainer on the STOXX was France’s Bouygues after the stock was upgraded to overweight by JP Morgan, reports Reuters.

A rating cut by Barclays prompted the worst lost of the index with Belgium’s Telenet down 4.6 per cent.

In the banking sector, Deutsche Bank lost 1.4 per cent after a report said it has looked at a theoretical scenario of merging with UBS. The Swiss bank lost 1.5 per cent.