The comments from the German Chancellor late yesterday, at a private meeting with her junior coalition partners, leaves little doubt of her stance, saying that there were to be no common bonds in her lifetime. This sits firmly against the blueprint published by the European Commission ahead of this week's summit, which hopes to start exploring the issue, as well as measures leading to closer political union. Clearly Merkel's comments were not meant for public consumption, but they do further underline that this summit is not going to deliver the break-through that markets are hoping for. The comments did cause a wobble on the euro into the European close, but EUR/USD has since recovered to its favoured comfort zone around the 1.25 level. FX markets were decidedly steady overnight, but with month and quarter-end at the close of the week, it's unlikely this stability will last.