Markets In Review: Markets Braced For French Elections

■ S&P 500 scores moderate 0.85% weekly gain, amid expectations for U.S. tax cut
■ GBP/USD adds 2.3% weekly on May’s call for UK elections, weighing on FTSE 100
■ Gold loses 0.1% weekly, as Syria strike woes dissolve
■ Oil loses 6.7% weekly following data on increasing US inventories

The high odds attributed to Marine Le Pen managing to win a ticket for the second round of the French elections has weighed on equity markets towards of the trading session. The US S&P 500 opened the week by rising 1.15% between Monday and Thursday, with gains fueled by US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin stating on Thursday that he expects a tax reform to be revealed “very soon”.

Friday further saw President Trump state that he believes that his tax cut plan would be bigger “than any tax cut ever.” In spite of these, sell-offs on Friday have led the S&P 500 to conclude its weekly session at a more modest 0.85% increase.

Markets were already election-sensitive at the start of the week, following UK Prime Minister, May’s call for general election in the country. Evidently, some elections may be good for an economy. While May’s move had led to an initial dip of the pound, going to 1.2516 during Tuesday trading, it has later reinforced the currency, hitting a peak of 1.2905. Though some moderation was later recorded, the currency pair ended the week at a 2.3% weekly increase. The strengthening of the pound, noted, did weigh on the export intensive FTSE 100, leading the equity index to a 3.2% weekly loss.

A more modest flight to safety

In spite of increasing concerns, it appears as the US fixed income market has marked its lower limit for yields. On Tuesday the U.S. 10-Year bond yield, which moves inversely to its price, declined to 2.163%. However, it later increased, ending the week at 2.248%. The dissolving of the previous week’s woes from the strike in Syria has meant declines for gold at the start of the week. Concerns from Le Pen making it to the second round have evidently been lackluster in comparison to Syria, as the metal ended the week with a 0.1% decline, at a level of USD 1,284.44 per oz.

Oil prices have taken a sharp 6.7% dive during the week, reaching a new low for the month, at USD 49.63 per bbl. The biggest blow for the black gold took place on Wednesday, amid data from the U.S. Department of Energy showing that Gasoline Inventories have increased by 1,542K barrels, far exceeding the analyst consensus of a 1,633-barrel draw. Obtaining backwind from past gains in oil prices, Baker Hughes reported yet another increase at the number of active rigs in the U.S. on Friday, hitting 857 – the highest since April 2015.