European markets closed higher on Wednesday, as investors tracked positive mood music around U.S.-China trade talks and promising consumer confidence figures out of France.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 came down off the day's peak to end the session 0.3% higher, having earlier hit a four-year high. Telecoms led the way with a gain of 1% while oil and gas stocks slid 0.3% lower.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that Washington and Beijing were in the "final throes" of talks aimed at securing a trade deal, though the U.S. leader also expressed his administration's support for protesters in Hong Kong, a particularly thorny issue for China at the moment.

Stocks on Wall Street were mostly higher on Wednesday, with both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 rising while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped into negative territory.

As for data, fresh figures showed that Chinese industrial profits dropped for a third consecutive month in October.

In Europe, French consumer confidence data exceeded analyst expectations to hit 106 in November, its highest since June 2017 and up from 104 in October. The pleasant surprise offered a tailwind to cautious European stocks Wednesday morning.