Euro Slides Amid France's Political Unrest

(RTTNews) - The euro weakened against other major currencies in the early European session on Monday, as a result of widespread protests in France and escalating tensions in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for "calm and order" after a major day of protests turned into rioting and looting on Saturday.

Macron remarked that the nation felt ashamed and angry after the weekend's horrific violence.

Following one of France's worst days of unrest in recent memory, Macron denounced the "terrible" violence that took place during rallies over the growing cost of living in a televised national speech on Sunday, according to Reuters.

Out of all the protests that occurred throughout Europe, France had the largest. Belgium, Italy, and Portugal were all impacted.

A Saudi helicopter crash near the border with Yemen due to a technical malfunction killed two crew.

An oil tanker caught fire and exploded after striking a naval mine in the southern part of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy said.

Ukrainian attacks set an oil export terminal ablaze in St Petersburg on Sunday, as Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia in one of the war's largest aerial assaults.

U.S. President Donald Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of prolonging the war with Russia and said his decisions to suspend several Russian sanctions is an effort to keep Moscow at the negotiating table.

In the early European trading today, the euro fell to nearly a 1-1/2-year low of 0.8408 against the pound and nearly a 3-month low of 0.9227 against the Swiss franc, from early highs of 0.8428 and 0.9260, respectively. If the euro extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.83 against the pound and 0.90 against the franc.

Against the yen and the U.S. dollar, the euro dropped to 4-day lows of 176.92 and 1.1187 from early highs of 177.62 and 1.1235, respectively. The euro may test support around 175.00 against the yen and 1.11 against the greenback.

Against Australia, the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the euro slipped to a 4-day low of 1.6050, nearly a 1-1/2-month low of 1.9791 and a 7-month low of 1.5773 from early highs of 1.6128, 1.9873 and 1.5863, respectively. The euro is likely to find support around 1.59 against the aussie, 1.94 against the kiwi and 1.56 against the loonie.

Looking ahead, Canada CPI data for October, the Bank of Canada business outlook survey data and U.S. NAHB housing market index for October are slated for release in the New York session.