European markets closed lower on Thursday, as global economic uncertainty cast a shadow over monetary policy announcements from the Bank of England, Swiss National Bank and Sweden's Riksbank.

After a muted start, the regional Stoxx 600 closed 0.43% lower, snapping a four-day winning streak.

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Germany's DAX snapped a winning run on Wednesday and shed around another 1.2% on Thursday, while the Stoxx Aerospace and Defense Index was down 2% after five consecutive weeks of significant gains.

Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Wednesday that there could be a period of "buy the rumor, sell the fact" in European stocks after German lawmakers on Tuesday voted to allow exemptions to the country's longstanding debt rules, unlocking hundreds of billions in defense, infrastructure and climate spending.

The potential for the reform had driven strong gains in German industrial, manufacturing and defense names earlier this month.

Shares of German engineering and defense group Thyssenkrupp
lost early gains to decline 4%.

Source: CNBC