European stocks mixed ahead of Fed monetary policy decision

European stocks were mixed Wednesday afternoon ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy announcement.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged 0.1% higher by mid-afternoon, with retail stocks adding 1.4% to lead gains while autos dropped 1.1%.

At the top of the Stoxx 600, French IT company Sopra Steria climbed 13% during afternoon trading after a resilient first-half earnings report and French engineering company Spie rallied 11.5% after beating first-half revenue and profit expectations.

At the other end of the European blue chip index, Orion shares tumbled 12.5% after the Finnish pharma