Euro slips after Macron win, dollar rises

Bloomberg

Europe’s common currency weakened and equities dropped following a convincing defeat of populism in France’s presidential election that investors had already priced in. Crude fluctuated even as Saudi Arabia and Russia signaled output cuts will be extended.
The euro fell after climbing for five of the past six days in the buildup to the election of Emmanuel Macron as France’s next president. Commodities producers sank the Stoxx
Europe 600 Index after recent raw materials declines. The dollar gained with Treasuries, while US stock futures poin-
ted to a lower opening. Oil swung before retreating, despite the Saudi oil minister saying OPEC’s supply cuts will be extended.
Macron’s decisive triumph over the anti-euro Marine Le Pen will strengthen the EU and deal a blow to the populist wave that has roiled western democracies for the past year. But there was little room for a relief rally — focus now shifts to the challenges facing the incoming president, while there had already been gains in the buildup to Sunday’s vote. Global stocks are trading at the highest ever, and US equities also closed at a record last week after better-than-forecast data on American jobs.
“Damp squib would be an overstatement,” Kit Juckes, a global strategist at Societe Generale, wrote in a note about the euro’s reaction.
“The common currency faces headwinds after moving further than bonds in recent days, and because data shows investors still shorting the euro, he said. “A period of choppy trading is likely for now, but we do still expect the euro to move higher in due course,” he wrote.
With the hurdle determining France’s new leader now cleared, investors will also turn their attention to global growth and corporate earnings after last week’s robust American jobs report and Federal Reserve comments bolstered
optimism in the US economy.