European stocks closed near the flatline on Wednesday to extend the relatively muted movements in equity markets this week, as weakness among major luxury brands offset slight gains in other sectors. The Eurozone's STOXX 50 and the pan-European STOXX 600 were both flat on the session. Luxury brands reverted their strong momentum from yesterday to close sharply lower, with LVMH, Hermes, Ferrari, L'Oreal, and EssilorLuxxotica all dropping between 3% and 1.5%. On the other hand, companies in crude oil exploration and extraction rose sharply amid the rebound for benchmark prices, with ENI and TotalEnergies adding 2%. Also, defense stocks rose after US President Trump signaled that Ukraine may regain lost territory since the Russian invasion in 2022. Leonardo, Thales, SAAB, and Rheinmetall jumped between 3% and 6%.