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Good morning from the Financial Times.

Today is Friday, April 8th, and this is your FT News Briefing.

French financial markets have been a bit wonky in the lead up to Sunday's big election.

One of Russia's biggest companies is calling for an impartial investigation into reports

of atrocities in Ukraine, plus Western sanctions against Russia have frozen Moscow's ability

to access U.S. dollars, and there's never been anything like it.

It's only really over the past couple of days and weeks that people have started to chew over

what are the long-term ramifications of this.

One possibility is a backlash against the dollar.

The FT's Katie Martin explains why.

I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.

This Sunday, French voters will cast ballots in the first round of a presidential election.

President Domenio Macron is seeking a second term and he's in the lead,

but polls have shown a steady rise in support for his biggest rival,

far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen.

And this week, France's financial markets, they got nervous.

Bank shares for one at a sharp fall.

Here's the FT's Paris Correspondent Sarah White.

Banks have reacted in particular partly because

they're a bit of a proxy for political risk in the economy that just very broadly exposed

...