The infoshot to help kick-start your week
Last Week
- Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has secured a victory in the UK general election, achieving a significant parliamentary majority now votes have been fully tallied. This outcome marks a dramatic shift in British politics following the collapse of Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party. Labour reached the critical threshold of 326 seats in the House of Commons just before 5 a.m. on Friday and ultimately won 411 out of 650 seats, the largest margin since Tony Blair’s landslide victory in 1997. The Conservative Party, in contrast, managed to secure only 121 seats. In response to the election results, UK equity-index futures have risen, and the pound has maintained its recent gains.
- The euro declined as France faces potential political instability following an unexpected victory by a left-wing coalition, including the Socialists and the far-left France Unbowed. Concerns over France’s strained finances caused the currency to drop 0.4% before partially recovering. With no single party securing a majority, French government bond futures fell, underperforming German counterparts. The election result left France with a hung parliament, threatening political paralysis and potentially impacting the EU’s second-largest economy, the war in Ukraine, and global diplomacy. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal plans to resign, highlighting the unprecedented political situation just weeks before France hosts the Olympics.
- The European Central Bank (ECB) requires additional reassurance that inflation is headed back to the 2% target before it lowers interest rates further, according to President Christine Lagarde. While disinflation is continuing in the eurozone, officials must stay alert, Lagarde said Thursday. Adding that a particular focus is the growth in services prices, which is being driven by elevated gains in wages. Meanwhile, in the US, forecasters expect a monthly employment report to show a step-down in hiring in June alongside a moderation in wage growth. Such a gradual cooling in the labour market would support Federal Reserve policymakers seeking multiple rate cuts this year.
Market Pulse
Coming Up
- US Fed Chair Powell Speech, Wednesday 10th July 2024 at 3:00pm.
- US Core Inflation rate, Thursday 11th July 2024 at 1:30pm.
Notice:
For professional advisers only, Copia does not provide financial advice, and the contents of this document should not be taken as such. The performance of each asset class is represented by certain Exchange Traded Funds available to UK investors and expressed in GBP terms selected by Copia Capital Management to represent that asset class, as reported at previous Thursday 4:30pm UK close. Reference to a particular asset class does not represent a recommendation to seek exposure to that asset class. This information is included for comparison purposes for the period stated, but is not an indicator of potential maximum loss for other periods or in the future.Open document settingsOpen publish panel
