SINGAPORE, April 11 — The euro made a firm start to the week on investor relief that incumbent Emmanuel Macron led first-round voting in the French presidential election, while other moves were slight ahead of central bank meetings in Europe, Canada and New Zealand.
With 88 per cent of votes counted, Macron garnered 27.41 per cent and his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen was next with 24.9 per cent. “It’s a patchy bit of support,” said Westpac strategist Imre Speizer, as investors are also grappling with an ECB unlikely to sound as aggressive as Federal Reserve in heading off inflation.
The US dollar index topped 100 for the first time in nearly two years on Friday, and was steady at 99.805 in morning trade. Against the Japanese currency the dollar was firm and bought ¥124.32.