Renault shares rise 5% on Honda-Nissan merger talks

European stocks were mixed on Wednesday as investors reacted to UK inflation data while awaiting the latest US Federal Reserve policy decision.

Shares in French carmaker Renault rose more than 5% after reports that Nissan and Honda were in merger talks. Renault owns a minority stake in Nissan.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was little changed by 8:45 a.m. London time, with the performance of different sectors of the market mixed.

New data on Wednesday showed that UK inflation rose to 2.6% in November, in line with expectations. The Bank of England is widely expected to keep interest rates on hold at its final monetary policy meeting of the year on Thursday.