European markets are quiet as concern about the world economy is the dominant emotion

By mid-morning, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.2%, with telecoms down 1.2% and oil and gas stocks up 0.8%.

Next week, the U.S. Federal Reserve is anticipated to raise interest rates by 50 basis points. Investors are growing increasingly apprehensive about whether the central bank can prevent a recession next year in its effort to fight inflation, even if that would be a smaller increase than recent rate hikes.

Following the S&P 500's fifth straight day of losses, U.S. stock futures were marginally lower on Thursday morning as Wall Street considered the possibility of a drop.

Overnight, sentiment in the Asia-Pacific area became more fluid. On Thursday, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased by more than 3% after a local news source claimed that the city was considering further loosening Covid regulations, such as eliminating the outdoor mask requirement and easing required testing for new entrants. The majority of the other markets in the area, meanwhile, slightly declined.