European Stocks Close Lower

European stocks closed lower on Wednesday, led by losses in mining and travel companies, as optimism about imminent interest rate cuts continued to wane. Investors are also watching a crucial inflation reading from the U.S. set to be released later this week. The Stoxx 600 index closed down 0.2%, with the travel and leisure sector leading sector losses, falling 1.1%. The basic resources index also decreased by 1.1%, marking the third consecutive day of losses. Energy stocks dropped by 0.9%, marking their fourth straight session of declines amid falling oil prices. However, the healthcare index continued its recent strong performance, gaining 0.3%, which helped mitigate the losses.