Money News Overview Wednesday 26th June: Euro weakens ahead of French election voting

Today's economic calendar is quiet, with no major data releases. Attention shifts to Thursday for the first significant report of the week, when the U.S. will release the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, the first since the Federal Reserve cut rates by 50 basis points last month.

Today started quietly with only a few significant data releases on the agenda.

This morning, we saw the Consumer Confidence figures for Germany and France, which showed that confidence levels remain down, as expected.

Later today, we’ll be looking at the US New Home Sales figures and the weekly petroleum report.

In currency news, the pound strengthened against the euro at the close of business yesterday. The upcoming French election has injected some volatility into this currency pair.

The first round of voting in the French elections takes place this Sunday, with the National Rally (RN) increasingly likely to secure the most votes. According to a leading poll tracker by The Economist, the RN is leading with 37 percent of the vote, ahead of the left-wing alliance of the New Popular Front, which stands at 29 percent. This anticipation is contributing to further weakness in the euro as we head into the weekend.

Looking ahead, tomorrow promises to be a significant day for data. We’ll see the release of the EU Business & Consumer Confidence figures, along with the US Durable Goods Orders, Employment, and GDP figures.

On Friday, the UK will brace itself for the latest Growth figures. For additional insights on how this could affect your business or to capitalise on market volatility, please reach out to speak with one of our experts.