European stocks retreated Thursday as investors digested mixed signals from the U.S. Federal Reserve while waiting for a decision from the European Central Bank.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.32%, with auto-shares (.SXAP) leading the losses, dropping 1.55%.

Among individual sectors, only oil and gas stocks (.SXEP) showed positive momentum – up 1.72%.

The Federal Reserve raised its key rate by a quarter of a percentage point and signaled it might pause to tighten policy further.

However, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell later said that it was too early to talk about ending the cycle of rate hikes.

All eyes will now be on the ECB’s decision: the central bank is expected to raise rates again by a quarter of a percentage point. but even bigger hikes are possible as the bloc struggles with sustained inflation.

Shares of Shell Plc rose 2.77% after the energy giant reported net income of $9.65 billion for the first three months of the year, down slightly from the previous quarter due to cooling energy prices, but above expectations.

The stock of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk fell 4.11% as the company said it would cut some shipments of a popular obesity drug in the U.S. because of strong demand. 

Earlier, we reported that Wall Street was on the rise thanks to Apple’s report.