European stocks close: stocks closed mixed ahead the Fed’s interest rate decision later in the day

Stock indices closed mixed ahead the Fed's interest rate decision later in the day. Market participants speculate that the Fed will drop the word "patient" from its outlook for monetary policy.

Eurozone's unadjusted trade surplus fell to €7.9 billion in December from €23.9 billion in November. November's figure was revised down from a surplus of €24.3 billion.

Eurostat said that seasonally adjusted numbers were not available due to technical problems.

The U.K. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.7% in the November to January quarter. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to decline to 5.6%.

The claimant count in the U.K. decreased by 31,000 people in February, in line with expectations, after a decrease of 39,400 people in January. January's figure was revised from a decline of 38,600.

Average weekly earnings in the U.K., excluding bonuses, climbed by 1.6%.

Average weekly earnings in the U.K., including bonuses, rose by 1.8%.

The Bank of England (BoE) released its last meeting minutes. All members voted to keep the central bank's monetary policy unchanged.

The U.K. Chancellor George Osborne announced the annual budget on Wednesday. He raised the economic growth forecasts for 2015 and next year. The growth forecast for 2015 was upgraded to 2.5% from the previous estimate 2.4%.

The economy in the U.K. is expected to expand 2.3% in 2016, up from 2.2%.

Indexes on the close:

Name Price Change Change %

FTSE 100 6,945.2 +107.59 +1.57 %

DAX 11,922.77 -58.08 -0.48 %

CAC 40 5,033.42 +4.49 +0.09 %