The Euro continues to be under heavy pressure from political uncertainty as the candidates jockey for position for French president. The latest poll shows that conservative party’s Francois Fillon is in the lead, while centrist Emmanuel Macron holds second place and Marine Le Pen comes in last but seems to be gaining ground among women voters. Meanwhile, the US Dollar was trading near to a 1-month peak in London trading despite yesterday’s release of FOMC minutes that were less “assertive” than markets would prefer.

As reported at 10:39 am (GMT) in London, the EUR/USD was trading at $1.0553, down 0.06%; the pair earlier hit a session low of $1.0534 while the peak stands at $1.0556. The EUR/GBP was down 0.08% to trade at 0.8467 Pence; the pair have ranged from a low of 0.8437 Pence to a peak of 0.8456 Pence in today’s trade. The EUR/JPY is trading lower at 119.4334 Yen, a loss of 0.17%.

Mnuchin Surprises with Dollar Comments

Earlier, the US Dollar did get a bit of a boost from the news that Steven Mnuchin, the new Secretary of the US Treasury. Mnuchin yesterday told reporters that a strong Dollar was long-run positive, a stance markedly different from that of his boss, President Donald Trump, who had argued that the strong Dollar was hurting trade. Mnuchin tempered his remarks, however, by pointing out that the Dollar’s strength was short-run negative.