French index rises amid the victory of the far-right in the first round of elections. Inflationary pressures ease in Vietnam

The US dollar jumped to nearly its highest level in a year, but UBS analysts believe this strength is unlikely to continue. They cite factors such as an expected Fed rate cut and concerns about the US budget deficit. UBS expects dollar strength to weaken in the coming months as the Fed begins cutting rates in September.

The CAC 40 Index (FR40) rose by 2.3% to 7,703 in early trading on Monday after Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement Nationale (RN) party came out on top in the first round of parliamentary voting, matching expectations.

Asian markets traded mixed last week. Japan’s Nikkei 225 (JP225) gained 2.82%, China’s FTSE China A50 (CHA50) fell by 0.46% for the week, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HK50) lost 1.05%, and Australia’s ASX 200 (AU200) was positive 0.10%.

The offshore yuan depreciated to 7.30 per dollar, remaining near its lowest level in seven months as investors digested mixed Chinese PMI data. The private survey showed strong growth in the manufacturing sector in June, hitting a three-year high and beating expectations, signaling positive momentum in industrial activity. Despite this, official data over the weekend presented a gloomier outlook, showing continued contraction in output for the second consecutive month, suggesting the need for additional stimulus measures as China seeks to restore economic stability.

The S&P Global Vietnam manufacturing PMI jumped to 54.7 in June 2024, accelerating from 50.3 in the previous month. This marked the second consecutive period of rising factory activity and the sharpest since May 2022, as new orders rose to a level only surpassed in the first month of data collection for the survey in March 2011. In addition, new export orders grew at the fastest pace since February 2022. Vietnam’s annual inflation rate fell to 4.34% in June 2024 from 4.44% in May, the lowest since March.

Judo Bank’s Australian Manufacturing PMI fell to 47.2 in June 2024 from 49.7 in May, marking the fifth consecutive monthly deterioration in manufacturing conditions and the fastest pace since May 2020.