European stocks closed at their lowest in a week Thursday, with bank shares in the red, and they struggled throughout the session even after data showed eurozone business activity revved up this month. The euro turned lower in the wake of the European Central Bank issuing updated inflation targets as policy makers wrapped up for the year.

U.S. stock-market indexes relinquished earlier gains, finishing lower on Thursday, with the selling pressure coming from health-care, materials sectors and telecoms sectors.

In Asia, the Topix index in Japan slipped 1.1 per cent as financials fell 1.3 per cent and telecoms stocks lost 4.3 per cent. There was better news for Japan's large manufacturers, which reported their best quarter in 11 years as the Bank of Japan's Tankan reading rose three points to +25 in the fourth quarter.