French election still presents opportunities
STOXX 600 up 0.4%
Eyes on U.S. CPI
Wall St futures lower
Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com
FRENCH ELECTION STILL PRESENTS OPPORTUNITIES
Markets have been in a risk-positive mood during the last two days, perhaps as some of the risk premium associated with worst case scenarios in France has been unwound.
With both a far-left or far-right majority ruled out, and a better-than-expected showing for the centre, French assets are slowly recovering.
The spread between French and German 10-year yields DE10FR10=RR, a gauge of the premium investors require to hold French debt over German, narrowed to 62.4 bps on Thursday, its tightest level since June 13, having widened to 85 bps in mid-June.
France's main CAC 40 index .FCHI has gained over 1.5% in two days, but it's still almost 5% below the level it was trading before Macron called the election on June 9.
"We still remain inthe camp that French elections provide a buying opportunity as the broader macro picture remains supportive and the tail risk of extreme policies is lower," write Mohit Kumar, chief Europe economist at Jefferies.
"For equities and credit, our focus is on financials where we have had a broadly bullish European financials view for a while."
France's three main banks - Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole - are all down 6%-10% since the election was called.
Yet, while France still grapples with forming a government, Kumar thinks the U.S. should outperform Europe, while European names should outperform France.
In FX markets, UBS analysts say the near-term implications are that a phase of turbulence is now "not likely" as potential conflict between the next French government and the EU is off the table.
That is evident in the Deutsche Bank FX Volatility Index .DBCVIX, a measure of currency market swings, which has fallen to its lowest level since the end of May, having spiked to seven-week highs in mid-June.
Still, UBS is bearish on the single currency, targeting $1.05 against the dollar in the long-term, because while French outcomes are not the worst case, they are not exactly good for the euro either, the Swiss bank says.
The euro last trades at $1.0847, within the middle of the 2024 trading range of $1.0601-$1.1047.
(Samuel Indyk)
*****
THURSDAY'S OTHER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:
NVIDIA CROWDING IS FALLING SHARPLY - UBS CLICK HERE
EUROPE EDGES HIGHER BEFORE US CPI TEST CLICK HERE
STOCK FUTURES HINT AT FURTHER RECOVERY BEFORE U.S. CPI CLICK HERE
COUNTDOWN TO CPI CLICK HERE
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
