Stocks, Euro surge after polls

Europe’s stock markets and the euro surged on Monday after moderate candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of France’s presidential election and looked set to triumph in the run-off against Marine Le Pen in May.

Germany’s blue-chip share index, the DAX, hit an all-time as stock markets across Europe and Asia reacted with relief to pro-business French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron’s first-round success. The index of 30 leading stocks briefly touched 12,398 points, only slightly above the previous record of 12,391 reached in April 2015. In morning deals, the Paris market soared over four per cent, while London was up 2.0 per cent.