The euro rose on Monday after German and French leaders promised to announce fresh steps to tackle the euro zone debt crisis by the end of the month, but the lack of details kept government bonds supported and world stocks gave up brief early gains.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after talks in Berlin on Sunday that their goal was to come up with a sustainable answer for Greece's debt problems and agree how to recapitalize European banks.
But they declined to give any details of their plan.
Investors are also cautious ahead of a key vote by the Slovakian parliament on Tuesday to ratify changes to the rescue fund to increase its lending capacity. One dissenting voice among the 17 countries that use the euro could wreck that plan.
"Only positive for the market short-term. It is good the governments are finally realizing they have to step in," said Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital.
