- The most important event of the weekend was the first round of the French parliamentary elections. According to the Exit Poll results, Le Pen's National Rally won 34% of the vote. The Popular Front, meanwhile, received 28.1% of the vote, the presidential Ensemble 20.3%, and LR/DVD, 10.2% of the vote.
- The first reaction to the first round of voting in the French parliamentary elections, brought a slight rebound on the euro. The EUR/USD pair started trading higher by about 30 pips. Although Marine Le Pen's party won the largest share of the vote, it still lacked an overall majority.
- The New Popular Front has called for alliances ahead of a second round of voting next Sunday to block the far-right Le Pen party from winning an outright majority and forming a government, which has spooked French asset markets in recent weeks.
- In the face of this news, high volatility can be observed today on the shares of French banks, which have lost heavily in recent days on the wave of political events. Institutions such as BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole are currently trading around 20% off their local highs.
- Futures contracts are pointing to a higher opening of the US and European cash sessions, with the upward momentum in Europe appearing likely to be stronger in this case.
- A number of important macroeconomic readings are scheduled for today. These will include CPI data from Germany, PMI data revisions for the world's major economies and ISM PMI data for US manufacturing. Investors will also hear several speeches by central bankers, including Governor Lagarde.
- China's Caixin PMI industrial data for June were. 51.8 (expected 51.2, previous 51.7)
- Japan's final manufacturing PMI for June 50.0 (previously 50.4).
- The Japanese government revisited the construction orders data and further lowered the GDP result. Japan's Q1 GDP was -2.9%; previously it was -1.8%.
- "Roaring Kitty," a well-known influencer of the "meme stocks" market, was sued for securities fraud.
- In the FX market during the first phase of Monday's trading, the euro and the British pound are the best performers. In contrast, larger declines are seen in the Australian dollar and the Japanese yen.
- Bitcoin is regaining some ground and is back above the $63,500 barrier.
Source: Heatmap showing the volatility on each currency pair at the moment. Source: xStation
