This is CNBC's live blog covering European markets.

European stocks brightened Wednesday as markets digested the latest meeting minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve and a swathe of fiscal announcements in the U.K.

The Stoxx 600 index closed 0.3% higher following two lacklustre sessions. Most sectors traded moderately higher, with travel and leisure stocks rising 1.5%, while oil and gas stocks slumped 1.7%.

Software group Sage led stock gains, up 13%, after reporting a strong rise in operating profit and announcing a £350 million ($438.5 million) share buyback program.

U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt announced a tax cut impacting 27 million workers, along with changes to benefits programs, business tax breaks, investment in AI and manufacturing, and a rise in the minimum wage.

Fed minutes Tuesday meanwhile revealed that policy officials maintained that monetary policy has to be restrictive and that they have little appetite for rate cuts.

"In discussing the policy outlook, participants continued to judge that it was critical that the stance of monetary policy be kept sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to the Committee's 2 percent objective over time," the minutes said. The federal funds rate currently stands at 5.25%-5.5%.

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed overnight while U.S. stocks moved higher Wednesday.

U.S. stocks open higher

U.S. stocks opened higher Wednesday as yields fell to their lowest level in two months and traders tried to go into the Thanksgiving holiday on a high note.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% in early deals while the S&P 500 was 0.4% higher. The Nasdaq Composite also climbed 1%.

— Karen Gilchrist

Oil prices fall after OPEC delays meeting

Crude oil prices tumbled after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries delayed a key meeting that was scheduled for the weekend.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for January dropped $3.27, or 4.2%, to $74.50 a barrel, while the Brent contract for January fell $3.32, or 4.03%, to $79.13 a barrel.

Read the full story here.

U.K. finance minister announces tax cuts

U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday delivered his Autumn Statement budget announcement, which included changes to benefits programs, a freeze on alcohol duty, and a rise in the minimum wage.

National Insurance, a tax on workers, will be cut from 12% to 10% from Jan. 6; while a "full expensing" tax break for businesses will become permanent.

Read the full story here.

— Elliot Smith

ECB's de Guindos: Escalation in political risk could spark market correction

Several risks that could trigger volatility in the financial landscape are not being priced in by markets, European Central Bank Vice-President Luis de Guindos told CNBC's Annette Weisbach.

"Markets have a very good perception, or illusion, of the macro economy. They believe that we are going to have a soft landing, they believe that geopolitical risks will not escalate, and so the risk premia for both bonds and equities is very compressed," de Guindos said.

"So just in case we have a negative surprise in terms of the evolution of economy, in terms of the evolution of inflation, in terms of any escalation of geopolitical risks, I think this could give rise to an important correction in market prices."

He added, "This is one of the main elements that we believe now could produce volatility in the financial landscape."

He was discussing the release of the central bank's Financial Stability Review for November, which tackles the challenges of a "soft landing" that brings down inflation without significant economic damage.

The ECB is projecting a low euro zone growth of 1%, but no recession in 2024 — which de Guindos said he believed was the "baseline for everybody now." The region's economy contracted 0.1% in the third quarter.

"But there are always negative surprises that happen… with respect to inflation the evolution has been very positive, from 10.6% to the current level that is below 3%, and we expect this disinflation process will continue over time. Nevertheless, because of base effects we will have some increase in inflation over the next months," de Guindos said.

He signaled that further negative surprises could come from the delayed transmission of higher rates into the real economy, wage growth, productivity and the price of oil.

— Jenni Reid

Goldman Sachs: Base case is for ECB cuts in third quarter of 2024

Goldman Sachs expects the European Central Bank to begin rate cuts in the third quarter of 2024 and forecasts a pick-up in euro zone economic activity, its chief European economist said Wednesday.

"There are basically two things, one is that inflation is coming down, we've made a lot of progress on the inflation front already... and wage growth has remained fairly firm. And so on an inflation-adjusted basis, we think households will face a better income picture as we go into 2024," Jari Stehn told CNBC's "Street Signs Europe."

The second, he said, is that falling inflation means "monetary policy can be more friendly next year than it has been over the last year."

"It's pretty clear we think that the ECB is done hiking... in our base case where growth holds up next year and inflation remains above 2%, we don't think they're going to be in a rush to cut. But they will cut, we think, in the third quarter.

"And importantly of course, they have the option to cut earlier, which is quite different from what we saw this year. So when you put that together, we think that's a somewhat more constructive picture for next year than we saw this year," Stehn said.

A particular drag on the euro zone this year has been manufacturing — however, Stehn said Goldman Sachs expected only a marginal improvement in the sector in light of the global economic outlook.

Euro zone inflation reached a two-year low of 2.9% in October, while the economy contracted by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to a flash estimate.

— Jenni Reid

Europe stocks open higher

European stocks had a cautiously upbeat start Wednesday, with the regional Stoxx 600 index 0.3% higher at 8:38 a.m. London time after two flat sessions.

All sectors were in the green as France's CAC 40 index gained 0.42% and Germany's DAX rose 0.26%.

— Jenni Reid

Thyssenkrupp swings into annual loss as it takes $2.3 billion impairment on steel unit

German engineering and steel production group Thyssenkrupp on Wednesday reported a net loss of 2 billion euros ($2.18 billion) for the 2022-23 fiscal year, down from net income of 1.2 billion euros, as it said it faced impairment losses on assets of 2.1 billion euros at its Steel Europe division.

Order intake fell to 37.1 billion euros from 44.3 billion euros.

The company blamed overall losses on a "market-related decline in operating performance," while it said steel suffered from a higher cost of capital and structural industry changes.

Shares nevertheless opened 3% higher.

— Jenni Reid

UK finance minister set to announce budget

U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt will deliver his Autumn Statement budget shortly after midday London time, amid pressure from within the ruling Conservative Party to implement tax cuts as the country's economy stagnates.

Hunt is expected to announce measures to attract business investment and remove barriers to large scale infrastructure projects, and is under pressure from the right of his party to enact tax cuts.

Read CNBC's live blog here.

— Elliot Smith

CNBC Pro: As the hype around 'solid-state' EV batteries grows, UBS reveals the global stocks to play it

Investment bank UBS has identified and named the stocks set to benefit from the growth of next-generation 'solid-state' battery technology electric vehicles.

Solid-state batteries are seen as a potential breakthrough technology because they can store more energy than lithium-ion batteries and charge faster. While researchers have known about the technology for decades, commercialization on a large scale has not yet been possible.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more about the UBS analyst stock picks here.

— Ganesh Rao

Oil settles flat as traders await OPEC meeting

Oil prices were largely unchanged Tuesday after rallying the past two sessions as traders await a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries later this week.

The Brent crude contract for January rose 13 cents, or .16%, to settle at $82.45 a barrel Tuesday, while the West Texas Intermediate contract for January fell 6 cents, or .08%, to settle at $77.77 a barrel.

OPEC and its allies, OPEC+, will meet Sunday amid speculation that the group could implement deeper production cuts as oil prices have dropped significantly since September amid demand concerns.

A senior official at the International Energy Agency told Reuters Tuesday that global oil market will see a slight supply surplus in 2024 even if OPEC+ countries extend their current production cuts into next year.

-- Spencer Kimball

CNBC Pro: These big names in retail could get hit by Temu's surging growth, Bank of America says

Explosive growth of Temu, the U.S. arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, could spell trouble for some major retailers, according to Bank of America.

Consumers have welcomed Temu's rapid growth, but competitors are likely to lose market share and could see smaller profits in the near future.

The Wall Street bank named retailers that are vulnerable to the Chinese e-commerce app's rise — and those likely to be insulated from it.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Fed gives no indication of rate cuts in latest minutes

The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its Oct. 31-Nov. 1, which showed the central bank didn't give an indication of possible rate hikes coming.

"In discussing the policy outlook, participants continued to judge that it was critical that the stance of monetary policy be kept sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to the Committee's 2 percent objective over time," the minutes stated.

— Jeff Cox

CNBC Pro: Forget Big Tech? Fund manager names 6 lesser-known tech stocks to buy instead

Big Tech names have been getting a lot of love this year, with investors piling into the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks.

One portfolio manager, however, is shifting his focus to other tech players — particularly small mid-cap names.

"I would probably balance between large cap stocks and start to be more constructive on small mid-cap stocks by increasing my exposure to them," Karen Kharmandarian, senior portfolio manager at Thematics Asset Management, told CNBC Pro.

CNBC Pro subscribers can discover some of his favorite stocks here.

— Amala Balakrishner

European markets: Here are the opening calls

European markets are expected to open in flat to higher territory Wednesday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 6 points higher at 7,483, Germany's DAX up 16 points at 15,920, France's CAC up 11 points at 7,237 and Italy's FTSE MIB up 37 points at 29,249, according to data from IG. 

The U.K.'s Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt will deliver his "Autumn Statement" detailing the government's plans for the economy. Russia's producer price index data for October is set to be released. There are no major earnings Wednesday.

— Holly Ellyatt