EUR/JPY declines on French election concerns

EUR/JPY pushes lower on Friday due to an across-the-board depreciation in the Euro from the uncertain outcome of French legislative elections scheduled for June 30 and July 7. The French President Emmanuelle Macron called the snap elections after his centrist Renaissance party was defeated by the far-right National Rally (RN) party at the European parliamentary elections. 

With Renaissance polling only around 19% of the vote currently, after a series of unpopular reforms, and RN with over 30%, there is a risk the far-right party, founded by famous right-winger Jean-Marie Le Pen could win power, with potentially Europe-wide consequences. 

“The two-round electoral process makes it hard to confidently estimate seat numbers, but experts predict RN could almost treble its tally of deputies, though most likely fall short of an outright majority, while Renaissance’s total could halve,” said Jon Henley, Europe Correspondent for The Guardian. 

“Such a result would leave Macron facing three years of an even more fractured and hostile parliament, having to cut difficult deals with opposition parties to form a government and pass laws, leading to almost certain legislative deadlock,” Henley added.