Markets Are Down

European markets opened down on Thursday, ahead of the European Central Bank's policy decision set for 7:45 a.m. ET. The announcement will be followed at 8:30 a.m. ET by a press conference where ECB president Mario Draghi will take questions.

Here's the scorecard:

France's CAC 40 is down 0.45%

Germany's DAX is down 0.61%

Spain's IBEX is down 0.62%

Italy's FTSE MIB is down 0.37%

Britain's FTSE 100 is down 0.40%

Asian markets closed in the red. The Hang Seng closed down 1.28% and The Nikkei closed down 2.61%.

U.S. futures are mostly flat, with no change in Dow futures and S&P futures down 0.05%.

Initial jobless claims will roll in from the US at 8:30 a.m. ET, with the ISM New York Index and factory orders following at 9:45 a.m and 10:00 a.m. ET, respectively.