By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks slipped Wednesday, with a pull back in shares of broadcaster Mediaset SPA weighing on the benchmark index after it reached a six-year high.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index gave up 0.2% at 341.28. It ended Tuesday's session with its strongest closing level since January 2008, at 341.89.

British briefly pared losses after the Bank of England indicated it will leave its key interest rate on hold at 0.5% for the time being, but stocks eventually resumed their move toward session lows.

Edging back from fresh highs, European stocks gained no traction after the European Central Bank's chief economist said the low-inflation environment in the euro zone has policy makers considering measures to address the issue. Measures may include issuing a negative deposit rate on bank deposits. Such a move could prompt banks to make loans instead of depositing any surplus of money overnight at the ECB.

"As the inflation outlook keeps on worsening, the pressure for the ECB to intervene is reinforced," Societe Generale economist Herve Amourda who in a note also said French consumer prices, released Wednesday, in April "surprised on the downside."

Highlighting weakness in the euro-zone's recovery, figures from the European Union's statistics agency showed industrial output in March was down 0.3% from February, and by 0.1% from the same month a year ago.

Among country-specific stock indexes, Germany's DAX 30 index turned lower, slipping by 0.1% to 9,745.46 after Tuesday's close at an all-time record high. Earlier Wednesday, EU-harmonized German inflation came in at 1.1% in April, which was broadly in line with forecasts.

France's CAC 40 index fell 0.2% to 4,495.76.

Standing out as the largest decliner on the Stoxx 600 index was Mediaset , falling 7.4% after the Italian broadcaster swung to a first-quarter loss of EUR12.5 million ($17.14 million), weighed by its domestic unit.

First-quarter results for Mediaset came in below expectations, and second-quarter advertising trends "are poor," said analysts at Barclays on Wednesday. "On this basis, we feel the shares discount too much recovery."

In London, ITV PLC fell 5.8% after the British broadcaster issued a trading update. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index shed 0.1% at 6,865.01. It ended Tuesday's session higher by 0.3%.

But Compass Group PLC shares pushed up 1.4% in London after the food services company said it will return 1 billion pounds ($1.68 billion) to shareholders in a special dividend. The move follows an increase in first-half profit supported by growth in North America and emerging markets.

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