07:50 AM EDT, 09/08/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Prime ministers are on the run early Monday as politics continues to hang over markets, said Scotiabank.

The yen (JPY) is starting the week as the weakest cross to the US dollar (USD), but the Nikkei rallied by 1.5% but also partly as a catch-up post-nonfarm (NFP) of Friday in the United States, noted the bank.

Eyes are on France's confidence vote at around 3 p.m. CET with European equities broadly higher and France spreads over Bunds a little tighter, stated Scotiabank.

Overnight Sunday and early Monday releases were pluses for Germany and Japan, but not China, pointed out the bank. There is nothing on tap into the North America session. Gold is up another $30/oz to $3,617.

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba resigned over the weekend. There have been 39 prime ministers since the end of WWII, with the average tenure being about two years, added Scotiabank.

Ishiba was a weak PM, according to the bank. His LDP party's ruling coalition was trounced in both lower and upper house elections. Ishiba negotiated a weak trade deal for Japan with the U.S. Divisions within the LDP didn't help either.

France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou is likely to lose a confidence vote later Monday, said Scotiabank. The results of a confidence vote that he called are expected to be available by 2-3 p.m. ET. The issue centers around reforming France's public finances, which are "a mess."

On the assumption that PM Bayrou loses his own vote, either a new PM will be appointed by President Emmanuel Macron or Macron will dissolve the lower house and call elections. Macron has refused to resign.

A new PM is the more likely scenario, but left hanging will be ongoing uncertainty over France's fiscal position, noted the bank.