financetom
Business
financetom
/
Business
/
Euro slides to one-month low after Macron calls snap French election
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
Euro slides to one-month low after Macron calls snap French election
Jun 10, 2024 2:00 AM

LONDON/ SINGAPORE (Reuters) -The euro fell sharply on Monday, hit by political uncertainty after gains by the far-right in voting for the European Parliament on Sunday prompted a bruised French President Emmanuel Macron to call a snap national election.

The uncertainty in France adds one more element to what will be a busy week for markets with crucial U.S. inflation data due on Wednesday, the same day as a Federal Reserve policy meeting, and then the Bank of Japan rounding off the week.

The euro hit a one-month low against the dollar of $1.0748, and was last 0.35% weaker at $1.0764.

The common currency's decline was across the board, it dropped 0.33% on sterling and touched a new near two-year low of 84.51 pence, and was last down 0.22% on the Swiss franc, and hit a seven-week low of 0.9639 francs.

"The election results over the weekend from the EU largely showed a pick up in support for the right wing parties, generally what was expected, but the surprise element is that Macron has reacted by calling a snap election, so that makes the market more nervous," said Lee Hardman, senior currency analyst at MUFG.

"That's reinforced the sell off in the euro that we saw at the end of last week, and the other factor on top of that is the U.S. payrolls report was very strong, which increases the risk of a hawkish Fed policy signal when they meet on Wednesday."

The Federal Reserve will conclude its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. Data on Friday showed non-farm payrolls increased by 272,000 jobs last month, well above expectations in a Reuters poll for 185,000.

Markets are now pricing in 36 basis points of Fed cuts this year compared to nearly 50 bps - or at least two cuts - before the jobs data.

U.S. consumer inflation data will be another factor in the Fed's decision making. While no policy shift is expected at the meeting, the Fed will issue the latest batch of 'dot plots' policy makers' projections of the path of interest rates.

At the last such release in March, the median projection was for three 25-basis-point rate cuts this year. Investors will be watching to see by how much that is revised down.

The paring back of expectations for rate cuts has been supporting the dollar for much of 2024, with the Japanese yen suffering particularly.

The dollar was last up 0.15% on the Japanese currency at 157 yen, having jumped 0.7% on Friday after the payrolls print. With sterling steady at $1.2722, the dollar index - which tracks the unit against six main peers - was up 0.08% at 105.15. It touched a one-month top of 105.3 in early trading.

Japan will also be in focus this week, as the Bank of Japan is due to hold its two-day monetary policy meeting on Thursday and Friday, with the central bank widely expected to maintain short-term interest rates in a 0-0.1% range.

Reuters reported last week that BOJ policymakers are brainstorming ways to slow its bond buying and may offer fresh guidance.

Speculation is building in the market that the BOJ may tweak its bond buying arrangements, and if the central bank fails to meet these bets, the yen could come under further pressure.

"Without any hawkish surprise, JPY may be sold initially following the policy announcement, similar to what we have seen after the past meetings," analysts at Nomura said in a note.

"Moreover, in the case of dovish surprises, for example, if the BOJ avoids decreasing its JGB purchases or decreases its (Japanese government bond) purchases only very slightly, there is a risk that USD/JPY could overshoot to possible intervention territory again, like we saw in April."

Japanese officials spent around 9.8 trillion yen ($62.46 billion) on currency intervention to support the currency in April and May.

($1 = 156.9 yen)

(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in SingaporeEditing by Shri Navaratnam, Neil Fullick and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
Correction: Robin Energy Prices $7.5 Million Offering; Shares Fall Pre-Bell
Correction: Robin Energy Prices $7.5 Million Offering; Shares Fall Pre-Bell
Sep 11, 2025
09:01 AM EDT, 09/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Corrects discount relative to Wednesday closing price in the first paragraph.) Robin Energy ( RBNE ) said Thursday it priced an offering of about 5.8 million shares at $1.30 each, equal to a 43.5% discount relative to the stock's Wednesday closing price, for gross proceeds of $7.5 million. The company said it granted...
Bausch Health Completes $63 Million Acquisition of Durect
Bausch Health Completes $63 Million Acquisition of Durect
Sep 11, 2025
08:59 AM EDT, 09/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Bausch Health ( BHC ) said Thursday it completed its $63 million take-private acquisition of Durect ( DRRX ) , adding the late-stage liver disease drug larsucosterol to its pipeline. The company said the purchase was made through a tender offer of $1.75 a share in cash, with the deal also including potential...
Market Chatter: Novo Nordisk to Require Workers to Return to Office 5 Days a Week
Market Chatter: Novo Nordisk to Require Workers to Return to Office 5 Days a Week
Sep 11, 2025
08:59 AM EDT, 09/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Novo Nordisk's ( NVO ) office-based employees will be required to return to the workplace five days a week, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing earlier reports from Danish newspapers Borsen and Finans. The new policy is set to begin Jan. 1, according to the report. The news comes a day after the drugmaker said...
GCT Secures $10.7 Million Loan to Fund 5G Chipset Production
GCT Secures $10.7 Million Loan to Fund 5G Chipset Production
Sep 11, 2025
08:59 AM EDT, 09/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- GCT Semiconductor ( GCTS ) said Thursday it entered a senior secured term loan of about $10.7 million with Anapass, its largest shareholder, to prepare for volume shipments of its 5G chipset. Proceeds will fund working capital, final production readiness and preparations for mass production and volume shipments targeted for Q4, the company...
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved