European share prices were lower on Thursday after some earnings reports disappointed and as traders awaited details of the European Central Bank's two-day monetary policy meeting, according to Reuters. At 1132 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 0.4 percent at 1,157.72 points. Oil stocks featured among the worst performers. The STOXX Europe 600 oil and gas sector index fell 0.9 percent, even as oil prices hovered around $103 a barrel, with Royal Dutch Shell down 2.9 percent after results fell short of market expectations. Banco Santander fell 1.6 percent, after tumbling Spanish property prices depressed net profits at the euro zone's largest bank. British telecoms provider BT rose 2.8 percent after it said its recovering Global Services unit would generate cash this year, and it reported a 7 percent increase in third-quarter core profit as it continued to cut costs. The ECB is expected to keep interest rates on hold, but send a sharper message that it is ready to tackle rising inflationary pressures in the euro zone. Macroeconomic data suggested any rise in interest rates might still be some time away. Euro zone retail sales unexpectedly fell in December with equal declines in food and non-food sectors, a sign that consumers in the single currency bloc were hesitant to spend even in the key holiday sales period. "The two issues for the ECB are the inflation and the size of the rescue fund and neither is likely to be addressed," said Philip Isherwood , European equities strategist at Evolution Securities. "Retail sales being a bit weaker was a bit of a surprise. There are hopes out there if you get an improving labour market, you will get better consumption, but the recovery is industrially based, it's externally biased. " He added that U.S. initial jobless claims data, due later in the session, could move the market." On the upside, the Markit Eurozone Services Purchasing Managers' Index expanded faster than initially thought in January. "Investors will be focused on the ECB meeting and want a clear-cut statement on how it plans to combat inflation," Heino Ruland, strategist at Ruland Research in Frankfurt said. "We have seen a lot of companies complain about rising input costs and how these are now going to be passed onto the customer. This is not good news, and inflation needs to be tackled," Ruland said. Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 0.4 percent, Germany's DAX was down 0.1 percent, and France's CAC 40 fell 1.1 percent.
