Global Stocks Extend Record Run
On Thursday, global stocks reached more record highs after U.S. data decreased the odds of a Fed interest rate cut in September.
Polling stations in the UK opened at 0600 GMT and by lunchtime the early 0.6% rise of London’s FTSE 100 had extended to nearly 1%.
The FTSE received more tailwinds due to MSCI’s main global index, which recorded its latest record high after Wall Street’s Nasdaq and S&P 500 did the same before the July 4 celebrations.
Across the English Channel, French polls indicated the National Rally (RN) party won’t win a majority of seats in the second round of Parliamentary election on Sunday as other mainstream parties moved to block the far right.
France’s bond yields, which are a proxy for government borrowing costs and move inversely to prices, still inched higher although as the country’s treasury sold 10.5B euros ($11.3B) worth of bonds, although it was welcomed that it all went smoothly.
The head of rates strategy at lender SEB, Jussi Hiljanen, said there has been a tightening in French bond spreads and sentiment has been slightly more positive.
The most likely result in the French elections seems to be a hung parliament, as centrist and left groups make deals to keep Marine Le Pen’s National Rally from power.