European stocks close: stocks closed lower as oil prices dropped

Stock indices closed lower as oil prices dropped on the U.S. crude oil inventories data.

The European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi testified before the European parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on Thursday. Draghi said that the central bank will review its monetary policy at its next meeting in December.

Regarding current economic outlook, he said that the Eurozone's economy recovered moderately, while the central bank's monetary policy and low energy prices supported consumption.

But there are downside risks to the growth and inflation outlook from the slowdown in the global economy and from a drop in oil prices, the ECB president added.

Meanwhile, the economic data from the Eurozone was mixed. Eurostat released its industrial production data for the Eurozone on Thursday. Industrial production in the Eurozone declined 0.3% in September, missing expectations for a 0.1% decrease, after a 0.4% fall in August. August's figure was revised up from a 0.5% drop.

The decrease was driven by declines in durable consumer goods, non-durable consumer goods and capital output. Durable consumer goods output dropped 3.9% in September, non-durable consumer goods were down 1.0%, while capital goods output fell by 0.3%.

Intermediate goods output was flat in September, while energy output climbed 1.2%.

On a yearly basis, Eurozone's industrial production gained 1.7% in September, exceeding expectations for a 1.3% rise, after a 2.2% increase in August. August's figure was revised up from a 0.9% gain.

The increase was driven by rises in durable and non-durable consumer goods, intermediate goods output and capital goods. Durable consumer goods climbed by 2.6% in September from a year ago, capital goods rose by 2.2%, intermediate goods output increased by 1.8%, while non-durable consumer goods gained by 2.1%.

Energy output was down by 1.4% in September from a year ago.

Indexes on the close:

Name Price Change Change %

FTSE 100 6,178.68 -118.52 -1.88 %

DAX 10,782.63 -125.24 -1.15 %

CAC 40 4,856.65 -95.86 -1.94 %