European stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday amid sharp pressure from banks and industrial giants. The Euro STOXX 50 fell 0.75% to 6,422 and the STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.7% to 651.7. Banks sank sharply, paring gains from the week as concerns of more restrictive financial conditions retook the market's forefront, with ECB accounts showing that selected policymakers did not oppose a hike in the central bank's June meeting. UniCredit sank 3.2% and BNP Paribas fell nearly 5%, while Santander, ING, and BBVA dropped over 2%. Meanwhile, Safran and Airbus dropped over 1% each. On top of that, AI infrastructure stocks closed in the red despite the strong earnings results and projections from Nvidia, which prompted gains state-side. ASML and Siemens Energy both fell close to 1%.