Pro-EU parties will hold two-thirds of the seats at the EU parliament. A number of nationalist parties saw their votes increase but not enough to cease control as so did a number of centrists parties. Green and Liberal parties across Europe increased their presence to fill in the gap left by a number of national governing parties who suffered losses like in Greece and in the UK. There will now be fresh elections in Greece while the British PM who resigned last week will stay on the job until a new successor has been elected. The Euro rose slightly on Monday. Meanwhile the Austrian PM has been ousted by parliament following the corruption scandal that gripped the country with new elections scheduled for September and Romania’s ruling party chief has been jailed for corruption. National European leaders will meet to start discussing election of key positions of the bloc next Tuesday.
New elections might take place in Israel as PM Netanyahu has not succeeded to form a governing coalition. The final deadline for compromise is tomorrow evening. Having been in power for the past decade and facing potential corruption indictments, Netanyahu has struggled to seal an agreement with a clutch of right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties that would ensure him a fifth term. One of the main arguments causing the deadlock is the mandatory service for the ultra-orthodox seminary students.
Oil prices rose more than 1% on Monday, supported by Middle East tensions, OPEC-led supply cuts and disruptions from Russia after a contamination problem discovered last month. The price of Brent has risen by 29% this year. Public holiday in the United States and United Kingdom limited the effect keeping volumes low but it is feared the trend might continue today. Brent passed the $70 mark again hitting $70.11 while WTI futures were up to $59.24 a barrel. OPEC and some allies including Russia are due to meet on June 25 and 26 to discuss output policy.
Nasdaq has withdrawn its bid for the Norwegian stock market operator after almost five months of negotiation leaving Euronext as the only runner for the takeover. Euronext received this month approval from the Ministry of Finance to buy over 50% of the shares effectively blocking the competition. This way Euronext strengthens its position in Europe adding Oslo to its portfolio that includes Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Dublin. Oslo Bors is of particular interest due to its diversity and leading position in seafood derivatives as well as oil services and shipping. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of June.
