Euro holds up after attack

24 Apr, 2017

On forex markets the euro suffered a brief dive against the dollar after a gunman - who the Islamic State group said was one of their followers - opened fire in the middle of Paris, killing one policeman. The currency later recovered and was flat against the dollar in early Asian trade.
"It looks like the Trump administration wants to reignite the market's expectations for policies," Hideyuki Ishiguro, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.
"Kuroda's comments didn't diverge from his past stance, but since the yen had strengthened a fair amount it became a trigger for some profit-taking."
Attention now turns to this weekend's first-round presidential vote in France, with a four-way split leaving analysts unable to work out which two candidates are likely to win through a second phase.
While there are fears the far-right Marine Le Pen will qualify, observers believe the moderate Emmanuel Macron will beat her in next month's run-off.
However, there is unease that a win for Le Pen could lead to France's exit from the European Union and possible collapse of the bloc.
In early European trade Paris fell 0.3 percent in the first reaction to the shooting, while Frankfurt was flat but London added 0.2 percent.

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