Even with politics taken out of the equation, markets have plenty of moving parts to contend with these days.
On the energy front, major oil producers sounded more confident about rebalancing in the markets at a Friday meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers. Oil prices have risen steadily in the past three months after producers agreed in May to extend their output cuts.
Meanwhile, traders are also likely to be focused on rising interest rates, especially after the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated last week that one more rate hike was likely before the end of the year. The Fed isn't the only game in town either: The Bank of England has suggested an interest rate hike could be due in the "coming months."
In the background, tensions on the Korean Peninsula have simmered as U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continued to trade barbs. The rest of the world has enforced stricter sanctions on the hermit state following its sixth nuclear test earlier this month.
