European stocks closed lower on Thursday as the initial reprieve after the Bank of England stepped in to calm the markets seemingly faded.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed down 1.8%, with auto stocks dropping 5% to lead losses as all major bourses slid into negative territory. Only the basic resources sector gained, closing up 0.5%.
Sterling has stooped to record lows against the U.S. dollar in recent days, and slid once again on Thursday morning to trade just below $1.08 before recovering to around $1.095.
Global markets saw another volatile trading day on Wednesday, with stocks trading sharply lower as global markets sold off on economic concerns surrounding inflation and the growth outlook.
Market turmoil continued to hit the U.K., prompting the Bank of England to suspend the planned start of its gilt selling next week and begin temporarily buying long-dated bonds in order to calm the market chaos unleashed by the new government's so-called "mini-budget."
That move calmed markets in the U.S. yesterday, and that, in turn, pacified indices in Asia-Pacific overnight. U.S. stock futures inched lower in early premarket trading on Thursday, however.