Source: AFP
The euro slipped in Asian trade on Monday after a snap French election in which a hung parliament is the most likely outcome, as markets in the region looked for direction after last week’s Wall Street close on a sharp note.
In France, the left was set to emerge as the largest group in a new parliament, overcoming a resurgent far-right in a vote called by President Emmanuel Macron three years ahead of schedule.
Macron’s centrist coalition will have dozens fewer members of parliament, but will hold on better than expected and could end up in second place.
The result, in which no bloc is expected to have an outright majority, left the country in a “thick fog” of uncertainty, according to a poll, with the euro falling about 0.4 percent from Friday’s levels before recovering some of his losses.
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“The best that can be said is that neither the (left-wing) NFP nor the (far-right) National Rally will be able to fully implement their respective election manifestos, which would be of more concern to investors worried about France’s fiscal situation.” , Alvin stated. said Tan of RBC capital markets.
While “the worst outcome for the euro has been averted for now,” Tan added, uncertainty remains “and the fiscal balance is unlikely to improve significantly as a result.”
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 hit new highs on Friday, and the Dow Jones industrial average also edged higher after official data showed the US jobs market was cooling steadily, raising expectations for a rate cut in September.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei index rose in early trade on Monday, but appeared to extend gains as the morning wore on, with Mizuho Securities forecasting a recovery near recent highs.
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However, as a whole, markets were mixed, with Taipei making strong gains, and Manila and Jakarta also up, while Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney and Seoul all fell.
Thousands of South Korean workers walked off the job at tech giant Samsung on Monday morning as they began a three-day general strike, according to a union spokesman, who warned production of key memory chips would be affected.
Samsung Electronics is the world’s largest manufacturer of memory chips and accounts for a significant portion of global production.
Thousands of workers rallied outside the company’s foundry and semiconductor factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, an hour south of Seoul, with National Samsung Electronics Union chief Son Woo-mok warning: “Today’s general strike is just the beginning.”
However, the tech giant’s shares were largely unchanged in morning trading from Friday’s price, boosted by the company’s forecast that second-quarter earnings will beat expectations by more than 25%.
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Keys around 03:30 GMT
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 41,020.20
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 17,715.30
Shanghai Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 2,934.23
Pound/Dollar: DOWN to $1.2812 from $1.2816 on Friday
Euro/pound: DOWN to 84.52 pence from 84.57 pence
EUR/USD: DOWN to $1.0834 from $1.0842
Dollar/yen: DOWN to ¥160.42 from ¥160.78
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3% to $82.89 a barrel
North Sea Brent crude: UP 0.2% to $86.39 a barrel
New York – Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 39,375.87 (close)
London – FTSE 100: Down 0.5% to 8,203.93 (close)
Source: AFP
