Markets have pushed Italy and the eurozone towards what many investors see as a tipping point, but European Union officials on Wednesday said they were waiting for Italy to decide on a new government rather than planning emergency measures to turn the tide.

The decision to stand firm appeared both a measure of the eurozone’s continued belief that only Italy itself can now change market sentiment – and a tacit acknowledgement the tools in the international arsenal have become increasingly limited.

The prospect of a technocratic government taking over quickly from teetering Silvio Berlusconi to push through long-demanded economic reforms – coupled with returning order to Greece and beefing up the €440bn rescue fund – presented the best hope for turning around a darkening crisis.