The pan-European STOXX 600 edged 1% lower, its sharpest decline in more than two weeks

European shares dropped on Thursday as the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged but offered no clues about its next move, while investors weighed mixed earnings from a string of companies including heavyweights Shell and BNP Paribas.

The pan-European STOXX 600 edged 1% lower, its sharpest decline in more than two weeks, pulling back from Wednesday’s record high close.

The European Central Bank held rates at 2% as expected and reinforced market bets that policy will remain steady for some time.

Inflation is in a good place, said Christine Lagarde, president of the ECB.

However, underlying inflation in the EU has cooled faster-than-expected, exacerbated by a strengthening euro.

The ECB downplayed concerns about the euro’s recent strength against the dollar as it is not a new development and is already incorporated into their economic projections, said Kiran Ganesh, multi-asset strategist at UBS Global Wealth Management.

The rate-sensitive real estate and construction sectors were down 0.8% and 0.4%, respectively.

Corporate reports were dominated by banks and resources companies as investors scrutinized earnings to gauge sentiment amid geopolitical uncertainty and a clouded macroeconomic environment.

Banking stocks slumped 3.5%, weighing the most on the benchmark index.

BBVA dropped 8.8% and weighed on Spain’s IBEX index as higher-than-expected costs overshadowed the bank’s higher quarterly net profit.

On the flip side, BNP Paribas gained 1.2% after the euro zone’s largest lender by assets reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit.

Mining stocks shed 3.4%, with Aurubis down 2.9% after Europe’s largest copper producer reported quarterly operating core profit below estimates.

Meanwhile, Glencore shares slipped 7% and Rio Tinto’s London-listed shares were down 2.6% after the latter said it was no longer in talks with Glencore about a takeover that would have created the world’s largest mining company.

British oil major Shell slid 3.4% after missing fourth-quarter net profit expectations.