Europe's Markets Close at One-Week Low Thursday on ECB, EU

(Reuters) - European shares fell to a one-week closing low on Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi gave no indication it would aggressively increase its bond-buying program and said the region's economy faced increased downside risks.

London's FTSE 100 fell 63 points to 5,484. Germany's DAX plunged 120 points to 5,875 and France's CAC 40 slid 80 points to 3,095

Bank stocks, which are at the forefront of the euro zone debt crisis due to their exposure to the region's debt, featured among the heaviest performers after the Draghi comments, with the STOXX Europe 600 Banks index down 3.2 percent.

Bond Market In-Focus

Investors were hoping for more colour on bond buying as liquidity in the financial system is tight, Veronika Pechlaner, a fund manager on the Ashburton European equity fund, said.

We are still underweight on financials and, after the statement today, we are unlikely to change this view.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares provisionally closed down 1.4 percent at 974.56 points in a choppy session having been up as much as 998.75 and down as low as 974.08.