European stock futures slide ahead of ECB meeting

The ECB is expected to slow its bond buying via its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP), according to a Reuters poll, but also reassure markets that this is not the start of a gradual exit from easy policy. Asian shares dropped more than a percent, with Chinese gaming stocks coming under pressure from fresh regulatory scrutiny, while data showed China's factory gate inflation hit a 13-year high in August.

European stock futures slid on Thursday, tracking Asian shares lower on concerns of slowing global growth, while expectations were running high for the European Central Bank to announce a timeline to slow down bond purchases later in the day.

Futures tracking Europe's top 50 firms were down 0.6% by 0605 GMT. Among regional markets, UK's FTSE futures led the declines with a 0.8% drop and German DAX futures lost 0.5%. The ECB is expected to slow its bond-buying via its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP), according to a Reuters poll, but also reassure markets that this is not the start of a gradual exit from easy policy.

Asian shares dropped more than a percent, with Chinese gaming stocks coming under pressure from fresh regulatory scrutiny, while data showed China's factory-gate inflation hit a 13-year high in August.