EUR/USD - Are investors complacent about French election risk?
|The EUR/USD pair is trading above 1.0714 handle this Friday morning in Asia after having faded spike to 1.0777 levels on the back of a broad based strength in the USD index.
Melenchon’s late surge
It appears that the markets are under appreciating the possibility of Le Pen or Melenchon winning the elections. As of now, as per the polls, Macron is tied with Le Pen with 22% support for the first round. Mélenchon has now bypassed embattled conservative François Fillon for third place.
Le Pen has promised EU referendum and has pledged to suspend immigration. With Melenchon, one may expect a more hardline stance on anti-EU measures and immigration.
However, markets look complacent. This is evident from the Franco-German 10-yr yield spread, which stabilized around 73 basis points over the last few days and narrowed to 61 basis points. EUR/USD too has recovered from the low of 1.0569 (Apr 10 low) in line with the stability/narrowing of the yield spread.
Options market says otherwise
The EUR/USD options market suggests the investors are hedging for a potential fall in the EUR. The risk reversals which measure the cost to investors of protecting against a sudden decline in the Euro fell to -4.3 earlier this week, the lowest level in more than five years.
EUR/USD Technical Levels
A break above 1.0777 (previous day’s high) would expose 1.0829 (Feb 2 high). A daily close above the same would add credence to the bullish RSI and open doors for 1.0873 (Dec 8 high). On the lower side, breach of support at 1.07 (5-DMA + psychological levels) would open up downside towards 1.0659 (10-DMA) and 1.0625 (support offered by the trend line drawn from Jan 3 low and Mar 2 low).
Information on these pages contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Markets and instruments profiled on this page are for informational purposes only and should not in any way come across as a recommendation to buy or sell in these assets. You should do your own thorough research before making any investment decisions. FXStreet does not in any way guarantee that this information is free from mistakes, errors, or material misstatements. It also does not guarantee that this information is of a timely nature. Investing in Open Markets involves a great deal of risk, including the loss of all or a portion of your investment, as well as emotional distress. All risks, losses and costs associated with investing, including total loss of principal, are your responsibility. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of FXStreet nor its advertisers.