In a statement yesterday, Francois Fillon made it clear he would for now not be standing down in the Presidential race. Fillon has been accused of paying his wife nearly €1m for work there is no evidence of her actually doing. This has majorly compromised his chances and the opinion polls are now showing a substantial fall. It seems as though it is now only a matter of time before Fillon is forced to with draw from the race. There have been multiple calls from within the Republican party for him to step down sooner rather than later so they can put a new candidate in place.

Brexit Bill Set to Pass House of Commons

At 8pm this evening there will be a final vote in the House of Commons that’s set to confirm the Bill set out by David Davis will pass through. This will mean the House of Lords will now have a debate and they’re also expected to pass the bill. There is an expectation that the triggering of Article 50 will be agreed to take place by the end of February.

The markets have responded positively to the news from Sterling perspectives as the market jumped up well over a cent last night.

Europe’s uncertainty

There is a general trend at the moment that the Euro seems to be entering a major stage of uncertainty. Whilst the markets are incredibly volatile there is likely to be movements across the next few weeks. The political situation in France is major concern as the right-wing sentiment continues. JPMorgan believe the Euro could drop 10% if Marie Le Pen wins the French election, which suggests there could be major fallout.