The Euro has soared against the British Pound and has strengthened against the majority of its peers as early exit polls from the Italian general election show that the centre-left bloc led by Pier Luigi Bersani is winning the vote.
Bersani is the candidate favoured by the markets and if he does indeed turn out to be the overall winner we can expect the Euro to strengthen further. So far the polls are suggesting that Mr Bersan’s alliance has won around 34% of the vote for the Italian parliament’s lower house. It puts him ahead of Silvio Berlusconi’s group with 29% of the vote. In third place is the protest vote movement led by comedian Beppe Grillo.
The markets are breathing a collective sigh of relief that so far Berluconi will not win the election. Such an event would damage the Euro as the markets see Berluconi as a threat to stability and someone ho would stop the austerity and financial measures being implemented across Italy.
The two-day vote is seen as crucial for efforts to tackle Italy’s economic problems, as well as for the Eurozone.
The election was called two months ahead of schedule, after Mr Berlusconi’s party withdrew its support for Mario Monti’s technocratic government.
The first results based on partial vote counts are due by the end of Monday with the overall result likely to be revealed in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Currently the Euro has strengthened by 1.17% against the Pound and rose by 0.74% against the US Dollar.
Current Euro Exchange Rates
As of 14:45 am
The Euro to Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP) exchange rate is trading in the region of 0.8815
The Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate is trading in the region of 1.3292
The Euro to Australian Dollar (EUR/AUD) exchange rate is trading in the region of 1.2899
The Euro to New Zealand Dollar (EUR/NZD) exchange rate is trading in the region of 1.5833
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