Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.34% following a rally in banking and travel stocks. Thus, the index rose for the fourth session in a row and reached its highest in a week, Trading Economics notes.

The French CAC 40 indicator added 0.18% on the day, the Spanish IBEX 35 rose 0.32%, the Italian FTSE MIB increased 0.12%.

Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.28%. The most significant declines were in the medical equipment manufacturer Fresenius SE (-2%), the reinsurer Munich Re (-1.3%), and the energy company RWE AG (-1.25%).

German entrepreneurs' confidence in the country's economy fell to 99.4 points in August from 100.7 points last month, according to data from the IFO research institute. The indicator fell for the second month in a row. The sub-index of expectations for the heads of German enterprises for the near future in August fell to 97.5 points from 101 points last month. The indicator of attitude to the current situation improved slightly, to 101.4 points from 100.4 points in July.

Meanwhile, the growth rate of retail sales in the UK in August was the highest in nearly seven years, according to the Confederation of British Industrialists (CBI). An increase in sales was reported by 60% of those surveyed compared to 23% in July. This is the maximum since December 2014.

The growth leaders among the Stoxx 600 components on Wednesday included the shares of the Swedish cloud communications services provider Sinch AB, which gained 5.2%, as well as the shares of the British retailer Marks & Spencer Group (+ 5.1%), the Dutch insurer ASR Nederland NV (+ 4.5%).

The shares of the Swedish manufacturer of equipment for radiation therapy Elekta AB (-7.8%) fell most significantly. Shares of Just Eat Takeaway.com NV, a food delivery service operator, will be deducted from the FTSE 100 stock index following the next quarterly revision of the index composition. On this news, the company's value fell by 0.3% at auction in Amsterdam and by 0.1% in London.