By Alun John

HONG KONG (Reuters – Following the victory of Marine Le Pen by French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, the euro saw a slight gain in morning trade. The outcome was widely anticipated by analysts and markets.

Opening higher at $1.0840. Last trading was at $1.0807; up 0.12% since Friday’s close. However, the price couldn’t move far away from its two-year lowest last week.

Currency rose 0.4% against sterling, to 84.22pence. This was a rise that reached its highest level in three weeks of early trade.

The interior ministry data showed that Macron received a solid 57% share of the vote with 97% of them counted. He acknowledged in his victory speech that not everyone had voted to him to stop Le Pen, but he also promised to improve the living conditions of many French people.

The markets will be reassured by Macron’s win, which is expected to confirm the European dynamics. The main beneficiary in the near term of this election could possibly be the euro. It was flirting with lows of two years against the dollar last Friday,” Frederic Leroux of Carmignac’s investment team said.

The negative side effect of the comfortable election is that it could lead to a decision quickly in favor of an oil embargo from Russia, which will increase inflationary pressures in Europe and cause economic slowdown.

Like most major currencies, the euro was affected by a rise in dollar yields that has boosted its value. Markets are positioning themselves to take advantage of an aggressive program by the U.S. Federal Reserve in raising rates.

On Monday, the temperature was 101.08. This is just below Friday’s 101.33 record.

After falling 1.4% Friday, Sterling fell to $1.28275. This was its lowest level since November 2020. A possible slowdown in British interest rate growth could be caused by weak sales, consumer confidence data and Bank of England comments from earlier this week.

The Japanese yen was the currency most affected by the rising U.S. rate of interest. Japan has kept its benchmark yields low. The dollar held at 128.63 on Monday morning.

So far in 2018, the dollar has increased 11% against the Japanese yen. The dollar-yen’s 20th highest level was 129.4 last week.

Also, the dollar fell to $0.7233 against the dollar, the lowest level in over a month. Meanwhile, bitcoin hovered around $39,000. Nothing much changed this weekend.