Following Macron’s lead against Le Pen in the first round of the French Election, European equities saw a surge in value as the CAC40 climbed by more than 4 percent. A Le Pen loss translates to reduced possibility of another Brexit-like shock to the markets. This was reflected in the market as the interest rates on 10-year German and French sovereign bonds fell by 50 basis points.

The EU currency also experienced marginal appreciation.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUSKBN17P10G