French Stocks, Euro Rally on Prospects of Anti Far-Right Alliance in France

By Cristina Gallardo

The euro and the French stock markets rallied early on Monday, amid expectations of a French cross-party alliance to deny the far-right from an overall majority in the second round of the French election.

The euro jumped 0.25% to 1.08 against the dollar, and was trading at around 0.85 against the pound in early Monday trading.

The 10-year French government bond, or OAT-Bund, yield spread is trading 7.5 basis points narrower at 70 basis points on early Monday, according to Tradeweb data.

The CAC 40 index in Paris was up 2.55% in early trading at 7670.11, with Societe Generale, Vinci and BNP Paribas as the biggest gainers. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 1%.

Marine Le Pen's National Rally party and its allies came up first in the first round of the French parliamentary election, with a third of the votes, according to Interior Ministry figures. The New Popular Front--a left coalition comprising socialists, greens and the far-left party France Unbowed--obtained 29% of the vote, while French President Emmanuel Macron's pro-business party fell to third place with around 20%.

Write to Cristina Gallardo at cristina.gallardo@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications

This article was corrected at 0757 GMT to reflect that the CAC 40 index in Paris was up 2.55% in early trading at 7670.11. The original article incorrectly attributed the move to the CAC All-Share index.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 01, 2024 03:31 ET (07:31 GMT)

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