Macron, Le Pen Push Global Markets Higher

European equities moved notably higher Monday morning while U.S. equity future indices were similarly pointing to a stronger open following the results from the first round of national elections in France.

Global investors were keeping a close eye on the France national elections, particularly the anti-European Union populist candidate Marine Le Pen. She will face the centrist, pro-EU candidate Emmanuel Macron in the second round of voting on May 7.

Investors appear to be working under the assumption that a Macron victory will maintain the current status quo while a Le Pen victory could completely shake up the European Union — and global markets.

A CNBC report quoted Krishna Guha, a vice chairman at Evercore ISI, who said in a note that "no estimate has Le Pen so far ahead of Macron as to increase concerns about his ability to overhaul her in the run-off with the benefit of second choice votes from other mainstream candidates."

Guha's stance is further supported by the fact that François Fillon, a conservative candidate who failed to win in the first round of voting, offered his support not toward his fellow conservative Le Pen but to Macron.

Market Moves

Here is a look at the American market as of 8 a.m. ET.

• SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY +1.22 percent.
• PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 (ETF) QQQ +1.10 percent
• iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures TM ETN VXX -9.24 percent.
• VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX ST ETN XIV +9.24 percent.

Here is a quick look at European markets as of 8 a.m. ET.

• France CAC 40 +4.54 percent.
• Euronext 100 +3.67 percent.
• German DAX +3.02 percent.
• British FTSE 100 +1.79 percent.

Related Links:

French Connection: What An Election Means For ETFs

Citi Sounds The Alarm Over Owning French Bank Stocks _________ Image Credit: By Copyleft (Own work) [CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons