The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged on Thursday and offered a modestly upbeat assessment of the euro zone economy, raising doubts among investors about further policy easing even while U.

Traders pared back bets on further ECB easing, and now see only a one-in-four chance of a rate cut in September. Alongside that, the euro erased losses to trade near $1.17, while euro-area bonds extended an earlier drop

ECB President Christine Lagarde left economists and investors a little less certain as to when, or perhaps even whether, further easing will arrive.