The big news to start the week was the result of the French Presidential run-off election on Sunday.
Sitting President Emanuel Macron held off his far-right opposition leader, Marine Le Pen 58.5% to 41.5%. Although this is a strong margin, it is a tighter margin than the 2017 elections.
During his second term, Macron will aim to provide greater support for those low-income households, and those who are self-employed, provide pension reforms and remain a strong leader within the EU. A potential new leader in Le Pen may have led to some uncertainty for markets, however, with Macron remaining at the helm, markets can move their attention elsewhere.
In China, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced that they will cut the reserve requirement ratio on foreign exchange deposits by 100 basis points (1%) to 8%. This is the amount of foreign exchange deposits that banks need to hold. Decreasing the figure will help to stave off the depreciation of the yuan, and aid financial institutions by giving them the ability to utilise some of those reserves.
Following this, the PBOC pledged further support for the economy, by means of financing small business impacted by the pandemic. This will provide a boost to those impacted by the continued lockdowns in Shanghai.
In other news, Elon Musk (the tycoon perhaps best known for his position as CEO of Tesla, or for his tweets that have the power to rock the price of a stock or cryptocurrency) has announced a $44bn takeover of Twitter.
Elsewhere, ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee bank holiday in June in the UK, various business leaders have called for the holiday to remain permanent to provide an economic boost each year.
That being said, our next scheduled update is Tuesday 3rd May – we hope you enjoy the May bank holiday!
Hannah Owen, Portfolio Specialist.