European stocks closed firmly lower on Wednesday, pressured by another session of higher energy costs as markets await major central bank decisions in the incoming session. The Eurozone's STOXX 50 dropped 0.5% to 5,744 and the pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.7% to 598. Tech shares led the losses after outperforming their peers at the start of the week, with SAP and Prosus losing 2.5% and 7.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, another jump in natural gas prices pressured utilities with Enel dropping more than 3%. In turn, UniCredit underperformed other banks as markets await news on Commerzbank's shareholders' call for the former's $40 billion acquisition offer. The Federal Reserve is expected to hold its rates unchanged overnight but the FOMC will update its economic projections. Meanwhile, the ECB, BoE, SNB, and Sveriges Riksbank are all expected to hold rates unchanged during tomorrow's session.