European shares clock marginal losses after ECB eases rates as expected

European shares closed slightly lower on Thursday after the European Central Bank eased borrowing rates as expected, while investors parsed corporate earnings to gauge the fallout of U.S. President Donald Trump's erratic trade plans.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.1% lower, though clocked a more than 4% weekly jump in a holiday-shortened week.

As widely expected, the European Central Bank trimmed interest rates for the third time this year by 25 basis points amid concerns over the euro zone’s economic growth outlook in a time of uncertainty over global trade and tariffs.

Elsewhere, Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose overnight, breaking ranks with Wall Street which declined sharply on Wednesday after Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that the ongoing trade tensions could challenge the central bank’s goals of controlling inflation and spurring growth.