European stocks slide ahead of ECB meeting, easyJet tumbles

European stocks slid on Thursday, tracking Asian shares lower on concerns of slowing global growth, while expectations were running high for the European Central Bank to announce a timeline to slow down bond purchases later in the day.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index was down 0.8%, hitting a three-week low, with UK's FTSE 100 leading losses with a 1.1% drop and Germany's DAX touching over a one-month low.

British airline easyJet (LON:EZJ) tumbled 13.8% after it revealed plans to raise 1.2 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) and said it had rejected a takeover offer.

Travel stocks, down 1.8%, fell the most among sectors, while miners, technology and automakers dropped between 1.0% and 1.4%.

The ECB is expected to slow its bond buying via its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP), according to a Reuters poll, but also reassure markets that this is not the start of a gradual exit from easy policy.

Asian shares dropped more than a percent, with Chinese gaming stocks coming under pressure from fresh regulatory scrutiny, while data showed China's factory gate inflation hit a 13-year high in August.