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By Emily Horton

Europe's markets were down on Thursday, as investor concerns about economic growth spilled over from Asian and Wall Street sessions.

Rio Tinto PLC fell by 8% after Société Générale downgraded the heavyweight miner.

How are markets performing?

The Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.3% to 374.40 after finishing flat on Wednesday.

Germany's DAX (DAX) led the region's decliners, losing 0.4% to 11,539.90, with the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 both off by 0.3% to 7,168.31 and 5,268.86 respectively.

Italy's FTSE MIB index lost 0.1% to 20,828.99, while Spain's IBEX 35 was the region's only gainer, adding 0.2% to 9.313.80.

The pound remained mostly flat at $1.3172, as did the euro at $1.1312.

What's driving the markets?

Following a retreat in Asian and U.S. markets on concerns that global growth might be slowing, Europe pulled back as hopes for an imminent trade deal between the U.S. and China recede.

The European Central Bank is poised to respond to a eurozone slump later on Thursday. Neil Wilson, chief market analyst for Markets.com, told clients the key things to look out for in the announcement from ECB President Mario Draghi are "the forward guidance on rates, growth & inflation forecasts, and anything on a new round of TLTROs."

What stocks are active?

French bank Société Générale downgraded both Rio Tinto PLC (RIO.LN) and BHP PLC(BHP.LN) on Thursday morning, helping to send the shares of both miners down 8% and 3% respectively.

NMC Health PLC (NMC.LN) lost 6% after the health care chain reported results slightly below expectations, citing wider macro challenges in a number of its business, and said these are also expected to continue into 2019.

Melrose Industries PLC (MRO.LN) announced its first steps toward breaking up engineering company GNK, after its hostile take over in 2018. This led to a 5% rise in share price, despite the FTSE 100 company announcing its losses had deepened after the acquisition.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 07, 2019 05:23 ET (10:23 GMT)

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