In what sets a dangerous precedent for the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis, European officials in Brussels announced a new plan last weekend to tax the bank accounts of ordinary citizens in Cypress to pay for that country's 10 billion euro bail out.

This plan has been described as thievery by the state and even violates EU law. With investors bracing for worse times ahead, most markets have been jittery this week.

InterOil was a notable gainer this week as speculation intensified over its strategic partner hunt for the Gulf LNG project in PNG.

London Metal Exchange cash copper closed at $7548.25 a tonne overnight, a 2.3% fall from last Friday.

By the same comparison LME spot nickel was relatively unchanged as it closed at $16827.5/t overnight.

Spot gold was trading around $1613.86 an ounce in the past 30 minutes - about 1.4% up since the end of last week.

Singapore Tapis crude closed at $114.78 a barrel overnight - down just 0.7% from last Friday.