If politics was the main driver for currencies at the end of last week, then it most certainly was again throughout the past five days. Wherever you were this week everyone had one eye on the US presidential election. It was an all but a steady introduction to the week for Europe; Germany reported a -0.6% monthly fall in factory orders while, for Euroland as a whole, retail sales were down by -0.2% and investor confidence improved by four and a half points to 13.1. Swiss inflation was steady at -0.2% and the Swiss National Bank's foreign currency reserves increased from SFr628bn to SFr630bn: they go up every month as a result of the SNB's interventions to sell the franc.

Last week ended on an average note for the euro, it was unchanged against the other dozen most actively-traded currencies. Over the last month the strongest performer had been sterling and by a good margin. Investors had taken a shine to the British pound, in the last week sterling gained an average 3.4% against the other dozen most actively-traded currencies.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Caixa Económica Montepio Geral (Montepio) have signed a guarantee agreement to provide EUR 20 million for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Portugal. This agreement benefits from the support of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe.

Under the new agreement, Montepio will provide attractive loans to innovative SMEs and mid-caps over the next two years. EIF’s guarantee is provided under the “EU InnovFin finance for Innovators” initiative, backed by Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The transaction would not have been possible so soon without the backing of the Investment Plan. It follows the news on 24 October that the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a EUR 20 million loan with Montepio, which was also backed by the Investment Plan.

If politics was the main driver for currencies at the end of last week, then it most certainly was again throughout the past five days. Wherever you were this week everyone had one eye on the US presidential election.
It was an all but a steady introduction to the week for Europe; Germany reported a -0.6% monthly fall in factory orders while, for Euroland as a whole, retail sales were down by -0.2% and investor confidence improved by four and a half points to 13.1. Swiss inflation was steady at -0.2% and the Swiss National Bank's foreign currency reserves increased from SFr628bn to SFr630bn: they go up every month as a result of the SNB's interventions to sell the franc.

Portugal’s finance minister, Marion Centeno, has announced his proposed budget for 2017. The key reform that could affect expatriates living here is the introduction of a “wealth tax” on property.

It will now be debated in parliament, and once approved it will come into effect on 1st January 2017. There may be changes before the budget is finalised.

Investors' changing appetite for risk was the most important factor in the euro's week.  When they leaned towards nervousness - as they did when Donald Trump edged ahead of Hilary Clinton in the US opinion polls - they bought the safe-haven euro, yen and franc.

Portuguese women step away from your desks on November 13th, you won’t be paid from this date.

Expert Market, Europe’s leading B2B marketplace, has conducted new research investigating the full extent of the gender pay gap across the continent and found that for many months of the year, women are still effectively not being paid.

The next 12 months will be an uncertain world, with a busy political period with the US Presidential Election, continuing Brexit, and Elections in France and Germany. We expect much market volatility due to these events.

In recent decades, political events have had a limited influence on financial markets. But this is could be changing, particularly as we approach the US presidential election on 8 November.