Stocks in the United States, Europe and Asia are likely to face more selling pressure this week, as a deadline on Tuesday draws near for a deal on the US federal debt ceiling.
The Dow Jones Index fell 97 points, or 0.8%, to close at 12,143 on Friday.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 10 points, or 0.3%, to 2756.
The FTSE100 in London shed 58 points or 1% to close at 5815.19 on Friday. The DAX in Frankfurt shed 0.4% and the CAC-40 fell 1.1%.
Across the Tasman, the Australian 200 Index fell 39 points, or 0.9%, to finish at 4425. The NZX 50 fell 1 point to 3396.
At 8.22am on Monday, the dollar was trading at 87.96 US cents, 79.87 Australian cents, 53.54 pence, 67.45 yen and 0.6115 euro.
The Trade Weighted Index was at 74.86.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US116.77 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1626.59 per ounce.
AFP reports gold prices closed at a record high of $US1631.20 per ounce on Friday.