European stocks drop more than 2% after Fed minutes

European stocks dropped more than 2% on Thursday, and hit a 2-week low, while on track for the first daily loss in 3 days, as the US Federal Reserve meeting minutes increased prospects for the near tightening of the US monetary policy.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell more than 2% as of 11:15 GMT, and hit the lowest level since August 2 at 463.36 points after it closed higher by 0.2% yesterday.

The energy sector saw the largest loss in Europe today, with a drop of over 2.5%, followed by the mining sector, as the prices of most dollar-denominated commodities and metals fell.

The minutes of the US Federal Reserve meeting that was held on July 27/28, showed that members of the central bank saw the possibility of easing the bond-buying program this year, if the economy continues to improve.

S&P 500 futures fell 0.8% today, and hit a 4-week low ahead of Wall Street's opening, after the index closed lower by 1.1% yesterday, due to profit-taking from its record of 4,480.26 points.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 2.1%, France's CAC 40 fell 2.5%, Germany's DAX index fell 1.9%, and the UK's FTSE 100 fell more than 2.1%.