1st Round French Election Result

1st round French election produces market friendly outcome with Macron & Le Pen progressing...

There were 3 winners of this weekend's French election, not only did Macron and Le Pen win enough support to progress to the final round but French opinion polls found themselves calling the results spot on.

After last year's EU referendum and US election, opinion polls have clawed a little bit of trust back with market participants. With opinion polls as accurate as could be, we'll now see Macron and Le Pen go head to head across the next 2 weeks which will culminate in a final round of voting on the 7th May.

Financial market's response to this news was a case of risk-on. The euro has gained over 1% versus the pound and US dollar and over 2% against the yen which has weakened across the board with participants not requiring its safe haven status for the time being.

Stock markets have rejoiced at this weekend's outcome with European bourses firmly higher across the continent.

This week's focus is likely to remain within the eurozone with further campaigning from Macron and Le Pen taking place, additionally we have a European Central Bank announcement taking place on Thursday. With the first stage of the French election out the way with no market unfriendly surprises, will Draghi see it fit to deliver a hawkish surprise? No doubt, eurozone data has been improving these last few months, the question is whether Draghi will acknowledge this or choose to keep participants guessing for another few months.

Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan will hold a monetary policy meeting and announcement while 2017 Q1 GDP preliminary GDP estimates will be released from the UK and US on Friday.

Al in all an interesting week ahead.

Guidance on Sending Money Internationally

Frequently Asked Question:

Hi Cle France, we are already registered with a currency exchange firm and we do seem to get a few other FX companies phoning us saying they are the best? they cannot all be the best surely? as we have viewed with many agents and visited many websites do you have any advice or guidance on which one we should use as our date for paying the 10% deposit looms, exciting times!

Regards, Chris.

'Cle France' Answer:

Of course you must use whoever you see fit, but I explain quickly why we recommend Ben Amrany of FC Exchange.

He handles the transfers for virtually all of our clients, and the reason for that is so that we keep everything in house: Ben, myself, the Notaires and the Agents in France all work together, so we know at any point in time where the money is, which can relief the stress for our clients.

For instance if a Notaire says the money hasn't arrived, I can pick the phone up to Ben, get the tracking details and speak to the Notaire directly to tell him to look again, and how to identify the transfer. But where we have another currency company involved I can't work for the client in the same way, and we have to depend on the client to resolve the problem, which can be very stressful, especially when the currency trader tells the client "the money has been sent", and the Notaire says "he hasn't received it"!

Sadly this has happened a fair bit when other currency companies have done the transfer.

So the benefit of using Ben Amrany and FC Exchange is that... Yes, he will beat other companies' rates as he has a Best Rate Guarantee, but also that he pays careful attention to our clients so things quite literally never go wrong, and funds never go astray, and I can't say that about other companies I have encountered.

You don't even have to by buying a house with Cle France to use Ben for your currency exchange, indeed some clients who have viewed with us may actually buy a property with another agent, sadly we can't win them all, that does not stop them still using Ben and FC Exchange to get the best deal on for their money.

So hopefully I have given you a bit more detail, and feel free to give Ben the chance to at least give you a no obligation quote, but of course I stress again, you can of course use whomsoever you wish.

Thanks, Sharon Evans - Director of Cle France Ltd.

Current rates:

Monday 24th April 2017 at 08:50

£1.00 GBP = 1.1833 EURO

£1.00 GBP = 1.2857 USD

£1.00 GBP = 1.6942 AUD

£1.00 GBP = 1.8234 NZD

£1.00 GBP = 1.7246 CAD

£1.00 GBP = 16.5562 ZAR

Do you want more information ?

So if you need to buy or sell sterling and would like to be kept up to date with all the latest data releases and exchange rate movements then feel free to contact myself Ben Amrany. If you are buying or selling a house in France we will make sure your monies are in the right place at the right time, we work hand in hand with you and Cle France.

For more information on the currency service I can provide please feel free to contact myself...

Ben Amrany from FC Exchange follow this link or phone and ask for myself and quote "Cle France" on 020 7989 0000.

You may contact me directly using this form (click here) with your requirement and I will explain the options that are available to you in getting the best exchange rate.