18.42 Time to wrap-up today’s coverage. We’ll be back tomorrow when the Bank of England will reveal its latest decision on interest rates, andBen Bernanke, the chairman of the Fed, will testify before the US Senate.

Have a good evening.

18.24 Economists at RBS think that the ECB will cut rates in July. Silvio Peruzzo and Gareth Anderson outline two reasons why:

Firstly, the confirmation that there was a debate about lowering interest rates in the Council, showing a process of transition within the Governing Council towards a more dovish stance, especially compared to the May discussion when Draghi said that no changes in interest rates were discussed. The decision to keep rates unchanged in June was supported by a broad consensus but a “few” members argued in favour of lower interest rates. Looking forward, we do not expect there to be any meaningful good news about the euro area economy which will reverse the Governing Council transition and therefore we expect a majority of members to recognise the materialisation of downside risks to the economy.

Secondly, President Draghi was very explicit in mentioning some of the assembedded in the new Eurosystem staff projections. The projections have already been challenged to the downside by some of the most recently available survey data for May, especiallthose pinning down conditions of foreign demand, which the ECB still expects to be “buoyant”. In fact following the cut-off date for the Eurosystem projection assumptions (May 24th), survey data suggest the global business cycle might be weakening, especially as far as the manufacturing sector is concerned.

17.31 The investigation will focus on the formation of Bankia from seven Spanish savings banks, or cajas in 2010, according to the Spanish newswire Efe, which cited an interview with Spain’s chief prosecutor,Eduardo Torres-Dulce.

Complaints from consumer groups representing small Bankiashareholders have grown louder in recent weeks, and many have threatened legal action over the sudden collapse in the bank’s share price. According to Reuters, thousands of ordinary Spaniards invested an average of €6,000 each when the bank floated last year at €3.75.

The shares closed at €1.04 today.

17.13 Spain’s public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into bailed-out bank Bankia,

Last month, Bankia requested €19bn in state aid on top of the €4.5bn it has already received from the government.

The investigation will be conducted by the anti-corruption unit, a spokesman told Reuters.

16.59 Charles Dallara, the man who represented banks in Greek debt write-off talks, will step down as head of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) at the end of the year.

An IIF spokeswoman told AFP that Mr Dallara’s departure was not linked to the stressful debt negotiations, adding that he would stay on at the IIF until the end of the year to ensure an “orderly transition”.

16.54 Ben Critchley, sales trader at IG Index, comments on today’s market movers:

There was a brief wobble for markets during the early afternoon after Mr Draghi said no to any rate cut for the eurozone. However, indices rapidly stabilised after they remembered the more important rumour, that QE3 might finally be on its way in the US. The ECB didn’t hint at any liquidity boosts so all eyes now turn to Washington. Both the Fed’s vice-chairman and chairman will make speeches over the next 24 hours, and, so the theory goes, the spate of weaker US data means that intervention must be on its way. Markets might of course be setting themselves up for a fall in the coming days if we don’t get any supportive words, but for now the optimists are in full control.

16.43 European markets have drawn to a close for the day, climbing on hopes European authorities are moving closer to more effective measures against the debt crisis.

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