LONDON: Global investors traded cautiously Wednesday ahead of a monetary policy announcement in the United States and as Britain unveiled its annual budget.
Investors hope that the Federal Reserve's latest meeting will provide some guidance on its plans for interest rates this year.
"European equity markets are trading little changed ... awaiting today's (Fed) meeting and (the) UK's budget announcement," said trader Markus Huber at brokerage City of London Markets.
Meanwhile equity prices on Wall Street dipped in opening trade, with the Dow slipping 0.1 percent after five minutes of trading.
Europe's markets steadied as investors also digested news that Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange have agreed terms on their planned blockbuster merger to create one of the world's biggest exchanges.
"Merger and acquisition activity has boosted sentiment ... after the LSE and Deutsche Boerse agreed to press ahead with a merger," noted CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler.
Oil prices also recovered after a sharp two-day sell-off after it was announced a group of key OPEC and non-OPEC producers will hold a meeting next month about a possible output freeze aimed at addressing a global supply glut.
With few other catalysts to drive trade, investors played it safe before the end of the Fed meeting and a statement from its head, Janet Yellen.
While no new measures are expected from the meeting, Yellen's comments will be pored over for clues to policymakers' thinking after December's first interest rate rise in almost a decade.
That rise was followed by two months of wild volatility across global markets that wiped trillions off valuations.
Meanwhile in Britain, finance minister George Osborne began unveiling his latest austerity budget that is expected to another £4.0 billion ($5.7 billion, 5.1 billion euros) of cuts.
The budget cut the forecast for economic growth this year to 2.0 percent, from the 2.4 percent forecast in November, due to turbulence in global financial markets and slower growth in China.
Back in Asia on Wednesday, Hong Kong stocks closed 0.2 percent lower.
Shanghai ended up 0.2 percent for its fourth straight gain, after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said at the close of the National People's Congress the economy would not suffer a hard landing.
Sydney gained 0.2 percent and Seoul was 0.3 percent higher.
Tokyo finished 0.8 percent lower, despite a weaker yen that came after the Bank of Japan defended its negative interest rate policy and hinted at further cuts aimed at kickstarting lending.
- Key figures around 1330 GMT -
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London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent to 6,147.16 points
Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.02 percent at 9,935.38
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 4,464.03
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,051.95
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 17,228.14
New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.2 percent at 2,012.72
New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 0.2 percent at 4,717.98
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 16,974.45 (close)
Shanghai - composite: UP 0.2 percent at 2,870.43 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.2 percent at 20,257.70 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1074 from $1.1110 on Tuesday
Dollar/yen: UP at 113.64 yen from 113.15 yen
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