USD

The dollar slumped versus a number of its peers during the previous trading week. However, the greenback has rapidly made inroads into its main peers today, as there is a lack of confidence in the financial markets. The AUD/USD pair is lower as of now by 0.01% at $1.0509. There will be a lot of action from the U.S. today, which means even more volatility for the leading pairs. The GBP/USD may slide further over the next few hours of trading this Monday.

EUR

The euro has been one of the most volatile currencies today during to the meeting of European finance ministers in which they are discussing how to boost the region’s economy. The EUR/USD pair is lower by several pips at $1.3312. The euro is likely to surge later, as good news has come from the meeting. In addition, the EUR/GBP cross is higher today, as traders feel there is much more strength left in the European single currency. Call options are expected to bring high returns for the EUR/GBP.

JPY

The yen did make heavy losses versus its peers last week. However, it is starting to show resilience today, as it makes inroads into the pound and dollar. The yen has been oversold, which has given traders confidence to buy into the yen this Monday. We will have to wait and see what the world’s leading policymakers come up with before opening big positions in the yen’s main crosses during today’s trading session.

The majority of Asian stocks slid from their highest rate since August 2011. This is on the feeling that the top shares may have climbed too quickly.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index tumbled 0.2% to 132.42. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 1.5%. South Korea’s Kospi Index lost 0.1%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.1%. Singapore’s Straits Times Index jumped 0.3%. China’s Shanghai Composite index gained 0.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.1%.

Nissan Motor Co. tumbled 1.5% to 865 yen. Sharp Corp. made losses of 3.8% to 331 yen. Sony Corp. advanced 3.3% to 1,187 yen.

The losses for a number of Asian stocks did not affect European stocks, as they have been trading on the news coming out of the current meeting of European finance ministers.

Crude Oil

Crude oil was able to gain almost $2 last week.

The cut in production of crude oil by OPEC led to higher prices. In addition, traders were much more confident following the release of data showing positive earnings for the leading U.S. economies.

The price of crude oil is lower this Monday by 48 cents at $95.56. Traders have decided to sell the energy today, as they are of the view that the recent gains may have been overdone.

There is currently the Eurogroup Meetings where European finance ministers of the Eurozone are meeting in Brussels. Therefore, traders would rather wait on the sidelines until a decision has been made.

The other reason why prices are weaker today is due to there being a lack of bullish sentiment due to pessimism with regards to the U.S. debt ceiling talks.

GBP/USD

Traders have lost confidence in the pound today. This is after the British currency was trading higher versus the dollar several hours ago. The fact is that the British economy is in very bad shape. Just talk of the U.K. leaving the Eurozone has hurt the GBP. Leading international companies have warned British PM David Cameron against such a move, as it would hurt the nation’s economy.