European stocks 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.
The continent-wide STOXX 600 index was down 0.8%, hitting a three-week low, with UK's FTSE 100 leading losses with a 1.1% drop and Germany's DAX touching over a one-month low. British airline EasyJet tumbled 13.8% after it revealed plans to raise 1.2 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) and said it had rejected a takeover offer.
Travel stocks, down 1.8%, fell the most among sectors, while miners, technology, and automakers dropped between 1.0% and 1.4%. 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.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
{{#Source}}{{Source}}{{/Source}}{{#IsBlog}}
{{Disclaimer}}
{{/Disclaimer}}