The euro advanced with European stock-index futures on speculation Marine Le Pen’s far-right party will struggle to win an outright majority in French elections, easing investor concern that Europe’s second-largest economy was headed for a more radical policy shift.
Futures on French government bonds edged higher, while CAC 40 Index futures jumped after the first round of voting showed Le Pen’s National Rally in front of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance, albeit less comfortably than some polls projected.
A very strong showing for her party would have increased the odds of expansive fiscal policy in France, whose deficit already exceeds what’s allowed under European Union rules.
Asian shares gained, with South Korea’s benchmark gaining alongside Japan’s Topix. China’s 10-year bond yield fell to a record amid pessimism about the domestic economy.
There is a sense of relief “that the far-right parties did not get the kind of majority that was feared,” Charu Chanana, a market strategist for Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore, told Bloomberg Television’s David Ingles and Stephen Engle.
