On the cusp of collectively breaking out of a long standing range, international markets faltered once again overnight.

In Europe, the FTSE shed 30 points (-0.5%) whilst the CAC (-1.6%) and DAX (-1.8%) suffered heavier falls.

Stateside, the Dow Jones slumped 247 points (-2.1%), whilst the S&P 500 (-1.9%) and Nasdaq (-2%) weren't hit quite so hard.

It was the steepest drop in two weeks for US stocks, with fresh eurozone concerns and weaker than expected manufacturing data providing the catalysts for the selloff.

Comments from a representative of German Chancellor Merkel, stating that European leaders would not be able to address all of the debt problems at a summit on Sunday, poured cold water on hopes of a speedy resolution.

The euro retreated against the greenback, peeling back from last week's biggest advance in more than years, whilst the Aussie dollar fell sharply from a one month high ahead of the release of the latest RBA meeting minutes later today.

Crude oil declined from its highest level in more than three weeks, shedding 0.5% to settle at US$86.38 a barrel, whilst gold pulled back from a three-week high, giving up 0.4% to settle at US$1677.

Today session will bring us the latest RBA monetary policy meeting minutes, slated for release at 11:30am, AEDT.