Europe: Stocks slide ahead of ECB meeting, easyJet tumbles

[BENGALURU] 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 (ECB) to announce a timeline to slow down bond purchases later in the day.

The continent-wide Stoxx 600 index was down 0.8 per cent, hitting a three-week low, with UK's FTSE 100 leading losses with a 1.1 per cent drop and Germany's DAX touching over a one-month low.

British airline easyJet tumbled 13.8 per cent after it revealed plans to raise £1.2 billion (S$2.22 billion) and said it had rejected a takeover offer.

Travel stocks, down 1.8 per cent, fell the most among sectors, while miners, technology and automakers dropped between 1 per cent and 1.4 per cent.

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 1 per cent, 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.

REUTERS