European Central Bank's annual meeting was affected by French politics, and expectations of interest rate cuts increased

Officials attending the European Central Bank's annual meeting this week will find it difficult to avoid political turmoil in France. The ECB began cutting interest rates before the meeting opened, and France's early National Assembly election shocked the European continent. The turmoil may overshadow possible positive news on Tuesday, namely that June inflation data is close to the 2% target, which may boost hopes that more rate cuts will come soon after the first rate cut in June.