Global Markets: Russian forces continue assault

WINNIPEG – The following is a glance at the news moving markets in Canada and globally.

– Russian forces continued its military assault on Ukraine last weekend with shelling in Kharkiv and renewed its offensive of the besieged port city of Mariupol. Russia is also sending reinforcements to the city of Izyum, southeast of Kharkiv, after claiming it had destroyed some of Ukraine’s air defence systems. Meanwhile, credit rating agency S&P said on April 11 Russia has undergone a “selective default” on its foreign debt because it offered bondholders payments in rubles, not dollars. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, whose country is a non-NATO member of the European Union, will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on April 11, two days after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

– Shehbaz Sharif was elected as prime minister of Pakistan on April 11 by the country’s parliament, the day after his predecessor, Imran Khan, lost a non-confidence vote. Sharif, the younger brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, is regarded domestically as an effective administrator and has good relations with Pakistan’s military. Before the vote, more than 100 members of Khan’s party resigned en masse to protest the potential formation of the government.

– Incumbent Emmanuel Macron and his political opponent Marine Le Pen both won the first round of France’s presidential election on April 10 with the two facing off in a second round runoff on April 24. Macron, from the centrist La Republique En Marche, received 27.8 per cent of the vote compared to Le Pen’s 23.1 per cent, who represents the far-right Rassemblement National. Jean-Luc Melenchon of the far-left La France Insoumise had 22 per cent and later urged voters not to support Le Pen. In 2017, Macron was elected with 66 per cent of the vote, but this year’s election is expected to come down to the wire.

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