European markets are still reeling from last week's credit downgrades by S&P of both the AAA-rated bastions of France and Austria, with a total of 9 nations being downgraded.  This was enough to send equity indices tumbling as the Italian MIB fell -1.20% and the DAX and FTSE fell -0.58% and -0.46% respectively.  The two bright spots were the Spanish Ibex which rose 0.28% and the UK which avoided a downgrade even though equities followed mainland European indices lower.  The Euro has continued its 6-week decline against the dollar, trading down today 0.25% to 1.2647.  France is going to be selling €8.7 billion in short-term bills today followed by the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) which is scheduled to sell €1.5 billion in bills.  
The Asian markets are trending lower in today's session, continuing last week's momentum downward as renewed credit fears circle Europe.  The Nikkei is today's biggest loser, plummeting -1.53% to 8,370.26.  The Hang Seng and ASX are trailing close behind down -0.95% and -1.08%.  While Japanese machinery orders rose 14.8% in November and inflation declined to the lowest in two-years, this was not enough to propel markets higher as Chinese growth is forecast to decline to its slowest pace in 10-quarters.  Copper slipped to $3.6170 dragging AUDUSD lower to 1.0276 or down -0.43%.  
U.S. Markets are closed today for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.  Equity futures are open and pointing lower however as the fallout continues from the slew of credit downgrades in Europe.  The U.S. dollar continues to be a top performing currency as investors choose risk-aversion.  Oil is trading not far off 2012 lows at $98.83 as concerns about slowing growth in China and Europe put pressure on the commodity relative to simmering tensions in the Middle-East.  At the moment, the Nigerian strike has left oil out of the equation, but union officials have mentioned shutting down output as a last resort to counter higher fuel prices.