European stocks are likely to drift lower at open on Thursday amid worries that vaccine production and distribution delays could exert a drag on economic recovery.
Risk sentiment is also dented by deepening concerns about stretched valuations in equity markets.
In the statement released after the end of a two-day policy meeting, the U.S. Federal Reserve flagged a worrying slowdown in the pace of the recovery and warned that the battle against Covid-19 is not over.
Asian markets are moving lower despite Apple and Facebook delivering stunning gains in profits and revenues over the past quarter.
China's Shanghai Composite was down 1.3 percent as liquidity tightened before the Lunar New Year holiday.
Oil and gold prices fell as the dollar gained broadly on safe-haven demand.
Economic confidence data from euro area and flash consumer price figures from Germany are due later in the session, headlining a busy day for the European economic news.
Across the Atlantic, traders are likely to keep an eye on the latest batch of earnings as well as reports on initial jobless claims, new home sales and leading economic indicators.
U.S. stocks suffered their biggest single-day percentage drop in three months on Wednesday, with concerns about the impact of new, more contagious coronavirus strains, vaccine delays and stimulus uncertainty weighing on markets.
There was some disappointment as the Federal Reserve didn't provide additional about the outlook for its bond purchases.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost about 2.1 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index and the S&P 500 gave up around 2.6 percent each.
European markets fell by the most in five weeks on Wednesday as investors reacted to downbeat economic data and tighter lockdown measures in the region to help curb the spread of virus.
The pan European Stoxx 600 slid 1.2 percent. The German DAX dropped 1.8 percent, France's CAC 40 index shed 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 1.3 percent.
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