S&P 500 rises slightly as Fed plans to stick with easy policy as economy recovers; European stocks close mostly lower; FTSE 100 climbs almost 1% 
The S&P 500 gained slightly to hover near its record high on Wednesday as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting showed the central bank’s commitment to accommodative policy in order to support a full economic recovery. 
The broad equity benchmark gained 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also edged 0.2% higher. 
Fed officials indicated at their last meeting that the pace of asset purchases will stay the same for some time while the central bank pursues its economic goals. 

The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the session down by 0.2%, with health care stocks shedding 0.9% to lead losses while the insurance sector gained 0.6%. 
In terms of individual share price movement, French utility EDF climbed 10.5% after Reuters reported, citing union sources, that the French government is planning a minority shareholder buyout valued at around 10 billion euros ($11.87 billion). 
At the bottom of the European blue chip index, Dutch tech investment firm Prosus slid 4.6% after announcing plans to sell a 2% stake in Tencent. 
Source: CNBC