12:07 PM EST, 12/10/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The European stock markets closed mixed Wednesday, with subdued trading as investors look ahead to the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later in the day.

The Stoxx Europe was unchanged, Germany's DAX was down 0.22%, the FTSE 100 gained 0.14%, France's CAC declined 0.37%, and the Swiss Market Index was off 0.07%.

The European Central Bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged through 2026, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing economists the media outlet polled. All 96 economists it surveyed said the ECB will hold the deposit rate at 2% next week, with 80% believing rates would remain unchanged through the middle of next year, Reuters reported.

And in corporate news, Ryanair's legal action against a European Commission decision to approve a restructuring aid of 2.55 billion euros ($2.97 billion) granted by Portugal to local airline TAP has been dismissed, the EU General Court said Wednesday.

The court rejected Ryanair's claims that "the Commission had, in breach of the R&R Guidelines, failed to establish that the restructuring plan was realistic, coherent, far-reaching and capable of restoring TAP's long-term viability," the court said.

Ryanair said in a statement sent in response to MT Newswires' request for comment that the EU has previously ruled that billions of euros in aid received by European carriers such as SAS, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM and others were unlawful. But it said the European Commission has yet to recover the "unlawful aid" nor "imposed any measures to remedy the damage to competition."

Shares of the Irish airline gained 0.3% in Dublin.

Shell intends to end a partnership with Russia's Rosneft via which the two companies jointly own a stake in a pipeline from Kazakhstan, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, quoting unnamed sources.

If the process is completed, Shell would still keep the stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, instead of owning it jointly with Rosneft, the report said.

Shell didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by MT Newswires.

Shares of the British oil and gas company closed nearly 1% lower on the FTSE 100.

NatWest Group has agreed to sell its 85% stake in Cushon to Willis Towers Watson's UK business, the companies said Wednesday.

NatWest said the deal, expected to close in H1 of 2026, is part of a broader transaction in which WTW will acquire 100% of Cushon, a workplace savings and pensions fintech company.

Shares of the British lender were up 0.1% in London.

UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher has received a request from US Senator Elizabeth Warren to disclose details of any communications he may have had with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over possibly moving the bank to the US from Switzerland, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing the lawmaker's Dec. 9 letter.

A UBS spokesperson said in response to an inquiry by MT Newswires that the company wants to stay in Switzerland. "UBS has a unique, sustainable, globally diversified business model, which has proven itself even in extraordinary situations and serves as an anchor of resilience, stability and prosperity," the company said.

Warren's office and the Treasury Department did not immediately reply to MT Newswires' requests for comment.

Shares of UBS were off 0.5% in Zurich.

HSBC is set to pay about $300 million to settle a French criminal case pertaining to the lender's alleged role in the "Cum-Cum" tax scandal, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The trades are used to lower or avoid withholding tax, Reuters reported.

An HSBC spokesperson declined to comment in response to an MT Newswires request.

Shares of HSBC rose 3.2% in London.

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