European Markets Open Lower As Banking Worries Rise.

As worries about a worldwide economic downturn increased due to mounting concerns over the robustness of the U.S. banking sector, European stock markets are set to begin lower on Thursday.

After First Republic Bank disclosed $100 billion in client withdrawals over the prior month, concerns about the bank's future survival were raised, and shares of the regional lender fell 30% on Wednesday, compounding losses from the previous session.

Additionally, according to Bloomberg, American bank authorities were considering reducing the bank's ratings, which would make it more difficult for it to obtain loans from the Federal Reserve

Concerns about contagion have affected the mindset abroad.

The largest bank in the UK, Barclays, will report its quarterly results. More earnings from companies including Unilever, AstraZeneca, WPP, and J Sainsbury are also expected in the UK.

In other news, a considerably larger-than-expected decline in weekly U.S. crude stocks helped up oil prices Thursday, but they are still headed for a loss week due to worries that future oil demand would be negatively impacted by slower economic growth.

According to statistics from the EIA, which was issued late Wednesday, U.S. oil stockpiles dropped by 5.1 million barrels last week after dropping by 4.6 million the week before. This was less than the 1.5 million barrel drop that was anticipated.

Both Brent and WTI have undone all of the gains earned as a result of an unexpected production reduction by OPEC and allies at the beginning of this month, and are on track to suffer losses of roughly 4% this week, close to a one-month low.

(investing.com, reuters.com)