FTSE 100 called up on week of UK election

July 01, 2024 at 11:20 am IST

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Monday, as the UK digests news of the far right's lead in the French elections, as well as its own election on Thursday.

IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 20.78 points, 0.3%, at 8,184.90 on Monday. The index of London large-caps closed down 15.56 points, 0.2%, at 8,164.12 on Friday.

Investors also have political developments to consider on Monday.

French voters propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong lead in first-round legislative elections on Sunday and plunged the country into political uncertainty, according to polling projections.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who called the surprise elections just three weeks ago, urged voters to rally against the far right in the second round of balloting.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen called on voters to give the National Rally an "absolute majority" at parliament.

"However, everything is still to play for, as many of the 577 French districts will now go to a second round run off next Sunday, which suggests that few candidates got over the 50% mark needed to eradicate a second round run off vote," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

The UK also has its own election to contend with, with people heading to polling stations on Thursday.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2663 early Monday, higher than USD1.2639 at the London equities close on Friday.

The euro traded at USD1.0758 early Monday, higher than USD1.0713 late Friday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY161.05, up versus JPY160.88.

Monday's economic calendar has a slew of manufacturing purchasing managers' index readings, include the eurozone at 0900 BST, the UK at 0930 and the US at 1445.

Already on Monday, Ireland's manufacturing sector declined at worse pace in June, data from S&P Global showed.

The seasonally adjusted AIB Ireland manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 47.4 points in June, down from 49.8 points in May. Any figure greater than 50.0 indicates overall improvement of the sector, with June's figures indicating that the slowdown in activity accelerated.

In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.1%, the S&P 500 down 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.7%.

In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up marginally. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was down 0.3%.

Gold was quoted at USD2,320.80 an ounce early Monday, lower than USD2,326.14 on Friday.

Brent oil was trading at USD85.37 a barrel early Monday, higher than USD84.84 late Friday.

In the UK corporate calendar, the start of July has half-year earnings from filtration technology company Porvair.

By Sophie Rose, Alliance News senior reporter

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