Closing summary: French shares rally as far-right majority seems unlikely; Port Talbot steel strike suspended
French President Emmanuel Macron made a big gamble to call early parliamentary elections. Markets have spent much of today trying to work out the consequences, as the far right National Rally (RN) appears to be on course to be the largest party in France.
Macron’s bet has “backfired badly”, according to Philippe Ledent, a senior economist at ING, an investment bank. The outcome will depend on how many “triangular” races are made into referendums on the far right, ahead of Sunday’s second round.
The third French candidates have about 26 hours to decide whether to withdraw in their seats and make the votes head-to-head battles between RN and an alternative.
Ledent writes:
Alliances and voting instructions will play a major role in the coming hours. The authorities of the parties making up the NFP are asking their candidates who came third in a constituency where the RN is present in the second round to withdraw in favour of the candidate opposed to the RN. President Macron and prime minister Attal seem to be moving in the same direction for their party’s third-place candidates.
However, other centrist and right-wing politicians have explicitly ruled out standing aside to allow in far-left candidates.
For investors the prospect of a hung parliament could temper the more radical policies of the far right and the leftwing coalition. French share prices duly rallied, and the spread between French and German bonds narrowed.
In other business and economics news:
The Unite union has suspended a strike at Port Talbot steelworks, saying that Tata Steel has opened the way to talks on future investment. It puts Unite in line with other unions representing steelworkers, and means a potential Labour government could have a say over the plant’s future.
The shipbuilder Harland & Wolff has been forced to temporarily suspend trading in its shares after accounting issues meant it was unable to file audited accounts on time.
The European Commission has accused Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta of breaching the EU’s new digital laws with an advertising model that charges users for ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram.
Boeing has agreed a $4.7bn (£3.7bn) deal to buy the parts supplier Spirit Aerosystems that it sold nearly 20 years ago, as it seeks to improve safety on its production lines after a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines-operated plane mid-flight earlier this year. Politicians in Northern Ireland are concerned over the future of a Belfast factory that will be sold to Airbus as part of the deal.
House prices in the UK remain unaffordable for many households despite wages rising above inflation for the typical earner, Nationwide has said.
German inflation has dropped slightly more than expected to 2.2% year-on-year in June, bolstering the case for the European Central Bank to cut interest rates again.
You can continue to follow our live coverage from around the world:
In our French election coverage, first-round results give far-right alliance 33% of vote, as PM warns Le Pen at ‘gates of power
In our UK election coverage, Ed Davey uses bungee jump to urge voters to ‘do something you’ve never done before and vote Lib Dem’
In our coverage of the Gaza crisis, al-Shifa hospital director release sparks row in Israel; army needs 10,000 soldiers, Israel defence minister says
In the US, the supreme court is to issue Trump immunity decision
Northern Irish politicians have raised concerns over the future of as many as 1,400 workers at the Spirit Aerosystems factory in Belfast, after its takeover by planemaker Airbus.
Boeing has announced the takeover of Spirit Aerosystems as it tries to retake control of its supply chain following a series of production issues. As part of that deal Airbus will take over Spirit operations serving it, including in Belfast which makes wings and fuselages for the small A220 jet.
However, the Unite union has said that 40% of the 3,600 workforce is employed on parts that are not related to Airbus projects, including work for Bombardier and Rolls-Royce. Airbus did not say whether it plans to continue that work.
Local politicians are concerned that job losses may result at an historic factory that traces its history back to Short Brothers, the first company to make production aircraft. First minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly released statements in which they said the government was working with the company to preserve the Belfast operations.
Economy minister Conor Murphy said:
“I have been engaging with the company and union on the acquisition and will work with all key stakeholders to ensure that the future status of the highly skilled workforce is protected.”
Reuters reported:
The leader of Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party, the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) Gavin Robinson, said the sale represented only “a partial solution”.
Steve Aiken, a member of the smaller Ulster Unionist Party, said it was an outcome “neither management, workforce or the unions desired”, calling on Northern Ireland’s economy minister to intervene to ensure the entire business is retained.
“The minister also needs to emphasis to Airbus the considerable investment the Northern Irish and UK governments have made in wing and aerostructure manufacturing in Belfast and that we will not be allowing our aircraft industry to be asset stripped and manufacturing moved elsewhere,” Aiken added.
