Europe seen lower on elusive Greece deal

European equities are expected to open lower Thursday as investors wonder just how long it will take for a Greek reforms-for-aid deal with its lenders to materialize.

The FTSE is seen opening 3 points lower at 6,925, the German DAX down 4 points at 11,324 and the French CAC down 2 points at 5,002.

Greece remains in focus for markets as a deal between the country and its international creditors over reforms and Greece's bailout program remain unresolved.

On Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras emerged from late-night talks with senior European officials in Brussels saying a deal with creditors was "within sight" and that Athens would make a 300 million euro ($338 million) payment due to the IMF on Friday.

In other news, the governing council of the European Central Bank (ECB) held rates as expected on Wednesday and the bank's President Mario Draghi attempted to quell concerns of an earlier-than-expected end to its bond-buying plans.

Draghi said the ECB's Governing Council was not even discussing an "exit strategy" for its 60 billion euro ($67 billion)-a-month program, adding that there was still a "long way to go" before the central bank reached its inflation target of close to 2 percent.

Meanwhile, the corruption scandal dogging football governing body FIFA continues. Court documents released Wednesday showed Chuck Blazer, the former FIFA official turned government witness, took bribes over a period of almost 20 years, the FT reported.

In Asia, equities traded mostly lower on Thursday, with markets in Australia hitting more than four-month lows on the back of less-than-stellar economic data.