By Veronika Gulyas

 
TODAY'S CALENDAR 
Lamfalussy Conference at the 
Hungarian Central Bank 
 
GLOBAL NEWS 

Candidates from opposing wings of France's Socialist Party emerged as the top two vote-getters in the first round of the country's leftist primary, reflecting the divisions hobbling the party's attempt to select a successor to President François Hollande.

In a setback for the pro-business wing of the party loyal to Mr. Hollande, Benoît Hamon, a lawmaker from the Socialists' left flank who has centered his campaign on a plan to create a universal basic income, took the largest share of Sunday's vote with 36.1%, according to a partial count.

Mr. Hollande's former prime minister Manuel Valls -- who helped lead the government's shift to more business-friendly policies to the consternation of traditional leftists -- came in second with 31.2%

"By putting me in first, you've sent a clear message of hope and renewal, the desire to write a new page in the history of the left," Mr. Hamon said.

Mr. Valls suffered a further blow from third-place finisher Arnaud Montebourg, a firebrand leftist and former economy minister. Mr. Montebourg, who received 17.7% of the vote, called on his supporters to back Mr. Hamon in the runoff vote on Jan. 29.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday she will talk about trade and security when she meets with President Donald Trump this week, but won't be afraid to challenge him on issues she finds unacceptable.

Mr. Trump will host the British leader at the White House on Friday, his first meeting with a foreign leader since taking office. The U.K. and U.S. traditionally have a so-called "special relationship," with close ties and strong collaboration.

Mrs. May, who is leading her country out of the European Union, is seeking to strike new trade deals around the world and sees the relationship with the U.S. as crucial. The American leader says he is ready to offer a quick agreement, though he has taken a more hostile view toward multistate deals and argued in favor of protectionism--describing an "America first" stance in his inauguration speech.

"We'll have an opportunity to talk about our possible future trading relationship but also some of the world challenges that we all face," Mrs. May told the British Broadcasting Corp., citing terrorism, the Syrian conflict and the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization--which Mr. Trump has called obsolete--as key examples.

 
IN FOCUS 

Hungarian central bank Chairman Gyorgy Matolcsy will make a rare appearance at a conference Monday organized by the bank each year.

Although Mr. Matolcsy is not likely to comment on monetary policy since it will be a silent period ahead of the Monetary Policy Council's first rate-setting meeting this year, markets are nevertheless listening for any comments from monetary council members, especially the chairman.

Last week, Vice Chairman Marton Nagy unexpectedly said at a conference that further unconventional monetary easing measures could take place if necessary, despite markets expecting no steps in upcoming rate decisions and tightening later on. These remarks sent the Hungarian forint on a weakening path against the euro.

Besides Mr. Matolcsy, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will make a speech at the conference. The central bank and the government have openly joined forces to boost the country's economy.

 
FOREX 
 
EUR/CZK 
0350 GMT 27.012-42 
Previous 27.010-40 
%Chg +0.01 
 
EUR/HUF 
0350 GMT 309.37-77 
Previous 309.20-60 
%Chg +0.05 
 
EUR/PLN 
0350 GMT 4.3708-26 
Previous 4.3682-700 
%Chg +0.06 
 
FIXED INCOME 
 
Hungary 
          Fri     Thu 
3-yrs     0.88%   0.87% 
5-yrs     1.97%   1.94% 
10-yrs    3.49%   3.46% 
 
Poland 
          Fri     Thu 
3-yrs     1.98%   1.98% 
5-yrs     2.95%   2.92% 
10-yrs    3.73%   3.68% 
 
Czech Republic 
          Fri     Thu 
3-yrs     -0.60%  -0.77% 
5-yrs     -0.32%  -0.38% 
10-yrs     0.38%   0.35% 
 
 
STOCKS (Closing) 
 
WIG 20 
2006.01 -0.5% 
 
BUX 
32881.92 +0.5% 
 
PX 50 
928.53 -0.1% 
 

Write to Veronika Gulyas at veronika.gulyas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 22, 2017 23:09 ET (04:09 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.