On Monday, the oversold euro rose to three-week highs against the dollar and world stocks inched up. This was after signs of progress on a Greek debt restructuring deal fueled optimism about efforts to contain the euro zone crisis.

Oil prices gained as foreign ministers of the European Union agreed to ban imports of Iranian oil from the start of July to pressure Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

From Reuters.com:

In Europe, Germany and France pushed for a deal between Greece and its private creditors and said they remained dedicated to a new bailout needed by March to stave off a disorderly default. Euro zone finance ministers met in Brussels to discuss the terms of a Greek debt restructuring.

Greece needs additional aid to be able to return its debt to sustainable levels. Without the aid, Athens will not be able to pay back 14.5 billion euros in maturing bonds in March - which would trigger a messy default that would hurt the entire euro zone and send tremors beyond the 13-year-old single currency bloc.

"Sentiment continues to outweigh fundamentals, at least for the time being," said Brad Bechtel, managing director at Faros Trading in Stamford Connecticut. "This euro short-covering sentiment-driven rally will likely not be sustainable over the medium-term, but may persist over the short-term.