European markets closed lower on Thursday, as investors assessed another key U.S. inflation reading for February.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed down 0.2%, shedding the morning's cautious gains. Media stocks ended the session 0.7% higher, as miners fell 1.4%.
The U.S. producer price index, which measures wholesale inflation, was released ahead of the U.S. trading session. The gauge jumped 0.6% on the month, above the 0.3% forecast from Dow Jones and follows a 0.3% increase in January.
The PPI report is the last major piece of economic data to be released prior to the U.S. Federal Reserve's next policy meeting on March 19-20.
U.S. stocks fell in early deals while Asia-Pacific markets were largely range-bound on Thursday, with investors focused on Japan's spring wage negotiations and India's wholesale inflation data.
— CNBC's Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this market report.