Stock markets have continued the slide they began late last week as fears over Italian and Spanish debts have reasserted themselves.European markets dropped 3% in Monday morning trading, led by more big falls in bank shares.

The Bank of England surprised no one this morning when its Monetary Policy Committee voted to make no changes to its benchmark interest rate while leaving its quantitative-easing program unchanged.

The AUD USD rose sharply overnight after the Reserve Bank of Australia unexpectedly hiked its key benchmark cash rate by a quarter-point to 4.75%. In its policy statement, the RBA cited inflation risks as the main reason behind the hike. It was the first rate increase since May 2010.

Fundamentally the consensus is the Euro is stronger than the Swiss Franc. The Euro rose on Wednesday on the thought that the European Central Bank may be getting ready to implement a tighter monetary policy. This conclusion was supported by comments from European Central Bank Executive Board member Juergen Stark who said an easy monetary policy can have negative effects.