EU News Digest Latest News & Updates
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Paper ballots are counted after the end of voting in the Italian general elections on March 4, 2018 in Naples, Italy.
European markets are expected to open higher on Monday despite uncertainty following Italy’s parliamentary election on Sunday which produced a hung parliament.
The German DAX is poised to make the biggest gains, seen up 86 points at 12,176, and Italy’s FTSE MIB is anticipated to open 130 points higher at 21,950, rebounding after trading lower on Monday.
Meanwhile, the U.K. FTSE is seen up 34 points, expected to open at 7,150. The French CAC is seen 26 points higher at 5,193, according to IG Group.
Political uncertainty continues in Italy following an inconclusive election result Monday. Two anti-establishment parties – the Five Star Movement and the League (formerly, the Northern League) – have stepped forward as candidates to lead the euro zone’s third largest economy.
The euroskeptic, populist Five Star Movement was the single largest party following the election. Meanwhile, former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned Monday after his party suffered its worst result since its conception in 2007.
Elsewhere in Europe, Brexit negotiations are to continue in Brussels. The European Union’s (EU) chief negotiator Michel Barnier is to meet the International Monetary Fund’s EU executive directors and Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster. In London, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and Brexit secretary David Davis are to meet the European Parliament’s Guy Verhofstadt.
With regards to corporate releases, Danish toymaker Lego and French defense firm Thales are to report full year results. In the U.K., food delivery service Just Eat is to publish the same.
