Euro Rises As French Election Worries Ease

(RTTNews) - The euro strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Monday, as worries about French election eased.

France's far-right would not garner enough seats for an overall majority in legislative elections, easing concerns about further strains on the country's public finances.

President Emmanuel Macron has called for a "broad" alliance against the far right in the second round, which will see run-off votes between two or three candidates where there was no outright winner in the first round.

Meanwhile, after a key U.S. inflation reading matched expectations, investors now await remarks by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, minutes of Fed's June FOMC meeting, jobs data for June, job openings data for May and reports on manufacturing and service sector activity this week for more clarity on the Federal Reserve's stance.

In the Asian trading today, the euro rose to a 32-year high of 173.39 against the yen and nearly a 4-week high of 0.8500 against the pound, from Friday's closing quotes of 172.30 and 0.8471, respectively. If the euro extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 176.00 against the yen and 0.86 against the pound.

Against the Swiss franc and the U.S. dollar, the euro advanced to near 3-week highs of 0.9686 and 1.0775 from last week's closing quotes of 0.9628 and 1.0713, respectively. The euro may test resistance around 0.99 against the franc and 1.09 against the greenback.

The euro climbed to nearly a 2-week high of 1.4724 against the Canadian dollar, from last week's closing value of 1.4652. On the upside, 1.49 is seen as the next resistance level for the euro.

Against the Australia and the New Zealand dollars, the euro edged up to 1.6148 and 1.7655 from Friday's closing value of 1.6064 and 1.7597, respectively. The euro is likely to find resistance around 1.64 against the aussie and 1.78 against the kiwi.

Looking ahead, PMI reports from various European economies and U.K. for June and the Bank of England's mortgage approvals data for May are due to be released in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. PMI data for June is slated for release.

At 8.00 am ET, Destatis publishes Germany's flash inflation figures for June. Consumer price inflation is forecast to ease slightly to 2.3 percent from 2.4 percent in May.