Investing.com - European stocks were broadly lower on Thursday, as investors remained cautious ahead of a report on Germany's business climate and as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's comments made on Wednesday continued to weigh.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.57%, France’s CAC 40 retreated 0.70%, while Germany’s DAX 30 fell 0.21%.
Speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, Mr. Draghi said it was too early decide whether or not to add stimulus measures.
"More time is needed to determine in particular whether the loss of growth momentum in emerging markets is of a temporary or permanent nature and to assess the driving forces behind the recent episodes of severe financial turbulence," he said.
The comments came after Markit said the euro zone composite purchasing managers' index, which includes both manufacturing activity and services, slipped to 53.9 in September from 54.3 in August, indicating that the bloc's is still slowly recovering.
Financial stocks were mixed, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) added 0.08% and 0.73%, while Germany's Commerzbank (XETRA:CBKG) andDeutsche Bank lost 0.06% and 0.19%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) gained 0.09% and 0.57% respectively, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) dropped 0.63% and 0.78%.
Elsewhere, German carmaker Volkswagen (XETRA:VOWG) regained some strength, with shares up 0.40% after tumbling most of the week. Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn announced his resignation on Wednesday, after the company was accused of rigging U.S. emissions tests on its diesel cars.
On the downside, Hennes & Mauritz AB (ST:HMb) slid 0.55% after the clothing retailer said third-quarter profit was little changed, as the strength of the dollar increased garment costs and brought the gross margin to its lowest level in 11 years.
In London, commodity-heavy FTSE 100 declined 0.38%, weighed by losses in the mining sector.
Shares in Glencore (LONDON:GLEN) lost 1.01% and Anglo American (LONDON:AAL) tumbled 1.38%, while Bhp Billiton (LONDON:BLT) plummeted 1.73%.
Meanwhile, financial stocks were mixed. The Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) edged up 0.13% and Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) jumped 1.26%, while Barclays (LONDON:BARC) eased 0.08% and HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) retreated 0.41%.
Analytics company Relx PLC (LONDON:REL) was one of the top performers on the index, with shares rallying 1.40%, after the stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a lower open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.38% decline, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.36% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.43% slide.