The euro climbed toward $1.12 as sliding oil prices improved risk sentiment and markets steadied after last week’s turbulence. Brent crude slipped below $97 a barrel after US President Donald Trump played down the likelihood of additional strikes on Iran.
Nonetheless, the single currency remains constrained by France’s political and fiscal strains and by uncertainty over the early departure of ECB President Christine Lagarde. Investors are closely tracking the succession race, which is increasingly seen as a contest between former Dutch central bank governor Klaas Knot and former Spanish central bank governor Pablo Hernández de Cos, who now leads the Bank for International Settlements.
The two governments have formally nominated their former central bank heads to succeed Lagarde in February, with the Eurogroup scheduled to assess the candidates on 9 November. The decision will form part of a wider institutional reshuffle that also affects ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel and Chief Economist Philip Lane.
