By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Stocks in Europe pulled out a win Wednesday, aided by gains for energy shares ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve statement that may signal policy makers will soon begin raising interest rates.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3% to 398.58, topped by more than 1% rise for oil and gas group .

Support for the pan-European index came in part from U.K. stocks, which surged following a budget outline by the U.K.'s coalition government. Energy shares climbed after Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne discussed investment and tax cuts for the North Sea oil industry, which has been hurt by the slide in oil prices. British oil majors Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) and BP PLC (BP) each bounced up 2.4%, and BG Group PLC turned higher by 1%.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-higher-ahead-of-jobless-data-budget-2015-03-18) ended up 1.6% at 6,945.20.

But Germany's DAX 30 remained in the red, falling 0.5% to 11,922.77, giving back a portion of recent gains that have left the benchmark up 21% this year. France's CAC 40 edged up 5,033.42.

European stocks were lower for much of the session as investors prepared to watch what the Federal Reserve and Chairwoman Janet Yellen will say about the future of interest rates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/welcome-to-a-fed-without-patience-2015-03-13) for the world's largest economy. Almost all Fed watchers think the statement, due after European trading closed, will lay the groundwork for a rate hike, likely in June or September.

A move by the Fed "does have an impact on the global economy, global liquidity, and this unease in the markets around that first interest rate hike transfers to European equities as well," said Craig Erlam, "It makes investors a little more risk-averse...and what Janet Yellen says this evening can change everything" and "encourage people to move to the sidelines and wait for this to play out."

A dovish tone in minutes from the Bank of England's March meeting released Wednesday, along with weaker-than-expected wage growth, prompted investors to push the pound (GBPUSD) to levels not seen since mid-2010 against the dollar, below $1.47.

Among Stoxx 600 movers, SBM Offshore NV jumped to the top of the Stoxx 600, rising 8.5% after the Dutch oil services company said it will work with Brazilian officials as part of their investigation into a bribery scandal involving Brazilian state-run oil giant Petrobras .

Shares of Standard Chartered PLC jumped 8.1% after a ratings upgrade at Barclays to overweight from equal weight.

European stocks, which have recently been hitting numerous records and multiyear highs, still have room to rise, said Erlam. The European Central Bank "has only just begun its quantitative-easing package that's pumping 60 billion euros of liquidity in the financial system every single month," he said.

"If we do start to see this pickup in [economic] growth over the next 12 to 18 months...and if company performances start to improve than that again makes the yields on offer [from equities] more attractive," he added.

The pan-European index is up 16% so far this year.

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