Another G8 summit passes and the same old hot air emerges from the talks where leaders agree that something has to urgently be done about the eurozone crisis. 

Further turmoil in the markets this morning as the political situation across Europe continues to dominate the picture.

The next month will be a battle between political will and economics. The political will is being tested to its limit and whilst European leaders continue to insist that they want Greece to remain in the eurozone, they are continually being reminded of the economic reality that a break up of the single currency is almost certain by the likes of our Governor of the Bank of England and Prime Minister.

EUR/USD was flat at $1.2778 at 9.40am (London time), as the G8 summit provided a glimmer of hope to the embattled currency.

The main theme across all asset markets on Thursday was ongoing risk-aversion, as Spanish bank concerns, disappointing US data and ongoing political uncertainty in Greece kept investors seeking risk-free safe-havens, and shunning risk asset and risk currencies.

EUR/USD was trading at $1.2693, down only eight points despite the ongoing euro crisis, as the falling dollar provided some support to the currency pair.

Crude for June delivery was trading at $92.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile exchange at 12.15pm (London time), paring its earlier gains on negative Greek sentiment.

Copper was down more than 1.3% on the back of the re-emergence of the Greek crisis, with politicians playing musical chairs to decide who gets to form the next government.

Light crude oil for June delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) was down 0.61% at $105.50 a barrel this afternoon due to rising inventories and weaker ADP figures.

Retail sales in the US climbed 1.1% in September from August according to data from the US Commerce Department. This is the biggest jump in retail sales seen for seven months and it’s helped the Dow Jones to add 100 points today already.  

The UK’s FTSE 100 plummeted below the 5000 mark on Friday morning as fears of a double-dip recession in the US and across the EU continued to dominate investor sentiment.

UK markets might have been overshadowed by the Compreshensive Spending Review (CSR) this week but they were certainly not bowed by it.