European stocks held broadly steady on Thursday, with gains for car makers offsetting losses for banks, as investors waited to find out whether the European Central Bank is ready to wind down its bond-buying programme, MarketWatch reports.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index was trading basically flat around 374.01, as financial, industrial and telecom shares fell. But tech and consumer goods shares were among advancing sectors. On Wednesday, the index turned higher to close up 0.1%, snapping a two-day losing streak.