The dollar slipped into a near eight-month low last week following the U.S. government’s decision to lift its debt ceiling, which to many investors translates as unwillingness to begin curbing its stimulus program later this year as had been expected. The U.S. dollar fell against major rivals, including the euro, the pound and the yen, and not even the expectation of a positive Non-Farm Payrolls report, to be finally released on Tuesday 22nd October, has raised market confidence in the currency.

But while the U.S. crisis has been temporarily averted, European investors foster no high hopes for improvements in the euro zone, as many issues still remained to be resolved. Although the upcoming two-day European Union summit is set to tackle some of the issues and provide solutions at least on how to provide backstop funds for failing euro zone banks, no major breakthrough is expected, especially without a coalition government set in place in Germany after September’s elections.