NEW YORK -- Hopes for a swift approval of a bailout for Greece that could help contain the swelling debt crisis in Europe bolstered the euro Thursday after a two-day sell-off that pushed it to its lowest level in a year. Budget deficits in several European countries, particularly Greece, and fears of debt defaults have dragged down the euro from a level above $1.51 in early November. In morning trading in New York, the euro rose to $1.3226 from $1.3187 late Wednesday. On Wednesday, the euro fell as low as $1.3116, its weakest point since April 2009, after credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Spain's debt a day after cutting the ratings of Greece and Portugal. The trio of downgrades worsened fears of "contagion," or the prospect of soaring borrowing costs and defaults in European countries beyond Greece. Spain has a much larger economy. On Thursday, European and German officials tried to reassure markets, saying approval on a "multi-annual" aid package for Greece was near, with talks between the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund expected to end in the next few days. EU official Olli Rehn said the bigger bailout was necessary "for every euro area member state and their citizens, to safeguard the financial stability in Europe and globally." Germany has held up the rollout of a nearly $60 billion aid package for Greece that analysts said was not big enough to contain the country's swelling debts for more than a year. In other trading Thursday, the British pound rose to $1.5254 from $1.5195. The dollar slipped to 94.18 Japanese yen from 94.31 yen, to 1.0840 Swiss francs from 1.0867 francs and to 1.0027 Canadian dollars from 1.0082 Canadian dollars. The dollar also slid against emerging-market currencies in Latin America and Asia as investors, reassured by the prospect of a larger aid package for Greece, sold off some of the safe-haven U.S. currency.

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