According to reports the French parliamentary vote of no confidence in the current government is set for 3pm GMT and that is very much on the radar for the markets this afternoon. As to which way this goes is not the subject of conjecture here. However, it seems there has been some modest short-covering in the CAC 40 index ahead of this. Whilst the vote might take place at 3pm, it is uncertain when the result might be known. That should keep the CAC on it toes and also, even if Barnier passes this test, it may not be the last problem for him and his government. The CAC 40 is currently trading at 7,305