Topic: Euro

While money pours out of Greek banks and Europe debates whether or not Greece deserves its next handout, the people potentially in the best position to help shore up the nation’s finances are mainly keeping their heads down, the New York Times reports.

European shares are called to open the trading day higher despite a lackluster European Union summit that found Greece being urged to stay in the euro zone but to honor commitments to its bailout agreement.

European Union leaders, advised by senior officials to prepare contingency plans in case Greece decides to quit the single currency, urged the country to stay the course on austerity and complete the reforms demanded under its bailout programme.

The embattled euro hovered just above a near two-year low against the dollar on Thursday and remained vulnerable to further declines as the prospect of a Greek exit from the euro zone kept investors on tenterhooks.

The move would involve complex legal and financial steps and could set back the economy further, many say. The New York Times reports.

Strong demand for Germany’s two-year bonds, which offer nothing in return, shows that opening Pandora’s Box in Europe has sapped investor confidence, Jim O'Neill, chairman at Goldman Sachs Asset Management told CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange.”

European shares were called to open lower sharply lower on Wednesday as investor caution replaced hope ahead of an unofficial European Union summit in Brussels to discuss policy responses to the euro zone crisis.

Looking to short the euro? You could buy shares of  Sanofi, the world’s fourth-largest drug company by sales, because of its limited exposure to Europe.

The euro slumped to its weakest level against the dollar in nearly two years on Wednesday on doubts a meeting of European leaders would calm fears of a disorderly Greek exit from the euro zone.

Greece should not be lulled into believing an exit from the euro would lead to the sort of short shock and sharp rebound that Argentina and Asian nations experienced when they devalued their currencies more than a decade ago.

European stocks are likely to remain under pressure, and the euro is seen breaking technical support levels, as Greece's inconclusive election results look increasingly likely to push it out of the euro zone, according to market experts and analysts.

Greece’s best chance of survival may be to stay in the euro but opt for its own parallel currency or “Geuro”, according to Deutsche Bank’s head of research, Thomas Mayer.

European shares were set to open higher on Tuesday as investors came to the conclusion that the markets were most likely over-sold and news emerged overnight of around 100 billion euros ($127 billion) of liquidity provided by the European Central Bank to the Greek central bank to prop up Greece’s financial system.

The euro fell on Tuesday as skepticism grew that an informal meeting of European leaders would yield much progress in tackling the debt crisis, with worries about Greek politics and Spanish banking problems expected to keep the currency weak.

Britain's Barclays said it is to sell all of its $6.1 billion stake in U.S. asset manager BlackRock which it has held for almost three years.