While supply disruptions are never far from traders' minds in the current climate, many will also be keeping an eye on U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's speech today, as they try to judge the future direction of the dollar.

"Anything pointing to a U.S. economic recovery and an end to the run of rate cuts we've seen from the Fed should lend some notable support to the dollar," said James Hughes at CMC Markets.

Bernanke is due to speak at a financial markets conference organised by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta at 1:20 p.m. BST.