By Anisha Sircar and Shreyashi Sanyal (Reuters) -European shares shrugged off a weak start to the session to end higher on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve signalled a March interest rate hike, with defensive sectors including healthcare and utilities leading the gains. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.7%, with most major regional markets reversing course to end the day higher. Healthcare, telecommunications and utilities rose nearly 2% each. “As a reaction to the Fed, European stock markets and U.S. index futures sold-off this morning, but the selling was short-lived as the fear that …