Investing.com - European stocks were broadly lower on Thursday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the European Central Bank's highly anticipated policy statement later in the day.
During European morning trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 lost 0.61%, France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.40%, while Germany’s DAX declined 0.56%.
Markets were jittery after data on Wednesday showed that Germany’s manufacturing sector slid into contraction territory for the first time in 14 months.
Earlier in the week, data showed that the annual rate of euro area inflation fell to a five year low of 0.3% in September.
The weak data added to pressure on the ECB to implement additional stimulus measures to stave off the threat of deflation in the region, ahead of its monthly meeting later Thursday.
Financial stocks were steady to lower, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) lost 0.06% and 0.65%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) eased 0.08%.
Among peripheral lenders, Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) slipped 0.28% and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) rose 0.24% in Italy, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) retreated 0.59% and 1.02% respectively.
Elsewhere, Philips Kon (AMS:PHG) dropped 0.57% after jurors handed the world's largest lighting company a $466 million defeat for infringing Masimo Corporation (NASDAQ:MASI) patents covering technology used in fingertip devices.
On the upside, Orange (PARIS:ORAN) shares gained 0.31% amid reports the phone company is working on a distribution agreement with Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) and may unveil it in the coming weeks.
In London, FTSE 100 slid 0.39%, as U.K. lenders tracked their European counterparts lower.
Shares in HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) dipped 0.02% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) edged down 0.16%, while Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) fell 0.18% and Barclays (LONDON:BARC) slumped 0.38%.
Babcock International Group (LONDON:BAB) led losses on the index, plummeting 3.82% after saying that it is considering splitting its power-generation and government and nuclear operations businesses into two separate publicly traded companies.
Mining stocks added to losses, as Bhp Billiton (LONDON:BLT) and Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) slipped 0.14% and 0.20%, while Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) and Vedanta Resources (LONDON:VED) retreated 0.53% and 0.74% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately lower open. The Dow 30 futures pointed to a 0.08% loss, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.02% dip, while the NASDAQ 100 futures indicated a 0.12% fall.
Also Thursday, official data showed that the number of unemployed people in Spain rose by 19,700 last month, compared to expectations for an increase of 31,300, after a 8,100 rise in August.