European stocks inched up on Tuesday, and the euro rose by three-quarters of a cent to $1.3725, on speculation that heads of state and government will have to announce something at Thursday's summit. The euro was as high as $1.51 in December.
The bounce followed news that European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet had left a banking conference in Australia to attend the summit, stoking expectations of some kind of backstop for Greece.
But as speculation mounted over a possible bailout for Greece, numerous high profile policy makers rushed to quell the rumors by saying that no cash would be coming for Greece
And some were skeptical that Thursday's meeting could stop the slide in sentiment.
"To be sure, markets will be looking to Thursday's EU leaders's meeting for answers, but we'd be greatly surprised if those meetings concluded in a manner which deminished market concerns about the matter."