US stock markets initially opened higher this morning, but investors were unable to shake off the news that Fitch downgraded Russia’s credit rating to triple-B, just two rungs above junk grade.

The US dollar was easily the weakest of the major currencies on Tuesday.

The US dollar and Japanese yen were some of the strongest of the major currencies as lingering risk aversion led Asian, European, and US stock markets lower.

The US dollar and Japanese yen remained in demand on Friday, second only to the British pound, as US economic data fueled risk aversion in the markets and actually led the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall 1.82 percent to close just above critical support at 8,000.

How bad will the Q4 GDP report be?

Risk appetite was strong on Wednesday, leading the S&P 500 to rally 3.36 percent higher and trigger sell-offs in Treasuries.

Economic data from the US remained bleak, as the Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to a new record low of 37.7 during the month of January from 38.6, missing expectations of a slight rise to 39.0.

The US dollar and Japanese yen both slipped against their major counterparts on Monday, and as usual, the moves had more to do with risk trends rather than any major fundamentals factors.

Will risk appetite improve next week?

From a fundamental perspective, current conditions and the outlook for the US remains dismal.