Reduced fund flows hit Colombia’s peso again

The UK and France recently held surprisingly early elections. In both cases, voters returned a historic result.
The result of the British vote was largely as expected, with the Labour party winning a landslide; after 14 years in power, the Conservatives suffered their worst-ever defeat.

French voters delivered a surprise, however. After the second round of legislative elections on July 7, the alliance of left-wing parties claimed victory, reversing the initial perceived advantage of the far right.

Markets remain unsettled in France, however, amid uncertainty about how the various parties will be able to form a stable majority. President Emmanuel Macron's allies have indicated their reluctance to work with the far-left party of Jean-Luc Melenchon amid its plans for increased taxes and spending.

On July 9, France's CAC 40 dropped by 1.6%, though it recovered that gain a day later. The stock benchmark is up only 0.4% since the beginning of 2024; as of July 10, only three of the nine sectoral sub-indices had posted gains year-to-date. The technology sector has performed worst, falling more than 15% since the beginning of the year.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 dropped for three consecutive sessions after the vote, but reversed part of the losses on Wednesday. Year-to-date, the FTSE 100 is up 6%.

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