After a crushing defeat in Sunday’s European Parliament elections, French President Emmanuel Macron has called a snap parliamentary election in a desperate bid to halt the rise of his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen.
While Macron’s position as head of state will not be directly affected by the upcoming elections, his ability to push through legislation, the power to elect a like-minded prime minister and the credibility of his political project will all be at stake. The results of Sunday’s election suggest he is likely to lose.
The euro fell as much as 0.3% to $1.0765 in early trading in Asia, the weakest in almost a month. The move reverses a nearly 2% rally since mid-April, when traders tempered bets on European Central Bank rate cuts this year. French bond futures fell and underperformed their German peers.
