Markets focused on the French presidential election

Like deja vu? On Monday, financial operators could wake up with the feeling of having already experienced this scene, that of a day after the first round of the French presidential election which sees Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen qualify for the second round, a fortnight later. Indeed, the latest polls give the two 2017 finalists leading the first round of voting, with a very narrow gap. The outgoing president is credited with 26.5% of the voting intentions, against 23% for the RN candidate, according to a Harris Interactive survey carried out from April 1 to 4. In the second round, the current tenant of the Elysée is given the winner, but with only 51.5% of the vote, against 48.5% for his competitor. Be careful, however, because a surprise is not excluded. ” While the prospect of an exit from the euro zone seems more distant than during the 2017 campaign, the possibility of seeing Marine Le Pen come to power still constitutes a major risk for the financial markets. noted Jonas Goltermann of Capital Economics in a note at the end of the week. Moreover, the yield spread between the French 10-year bond and its German equivalent has increased and the major French banks have suffered significant declines in recent days.

Possible new sanctions against Russia

In addition to the French presidential election, operators will closely monitor the meeting European Union foreign ministers, which will be held in Luxembourg. They could decide on additional sanctions against Russia. Finally, they will react to the two Chinese inflation indicators which will be published on Sunday night, namely the evolution of consumer price and industrial producer prices in march. The former are expected to rise by 1.3% over one year and the latter by 8.1%, in a context of soaring commodity prices, uncertainty about the global economy and the resurgence of coronavirus epidemics in the country.

On the values ​​front, Ober will release its annual results after the close of trading.