Euro rises to a two-week high

Markets fluctuate after France’s far-right wins first round vote

By Nadia Elbilassy | @Nadia Elbilassy | 1 July 2024

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  • The euro rose after a significant far-right win in French parliamentary elections, pending second-round negotiations.

  • The yen weakened against the dollar to 161.48, almost a 12% drop this year.

  • US Average hourly earnings are predicted to decrease to 0.3% from 0.4%.

Currencies

The euro rose following a significant victory by the French far-right in the first round of parliamentary elections, though the results were slightly below some expectations. The outcome will depend on party negotiations before the second-round next weekend.

The EUR/USD pair rose to hover near 1.075 up from lows seen earlier last week on the first victory of the right wing in early June.

The yen weakened against the dollar to 161.48, almost falling 12% this year so far. The GB]/USD pair was higher near 1.2680.

Commodities

Gold prices continued to trade in a tight range $2,327 lacking direction ahead of a full data week.

Markets now focus on Friday's NFP data that are expected to dip to 189K from 272K in June, as US employers probably slowed hiring with the backdrop of easing wages and inflation levels.

While the average hourly earnings are expected to drop to 0.3% from 0.4%. Aside from these risk events focus will also fall on the FOMC meeting minutes and Powell’s speech on July 2nd for any clues.

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