Market sentiment has lifted following the first round of the French election - ANZ

Analysts at ANZ points out that the market sentiment has lifted following the first round of the French election, with positive US company earnings and solid data also helping.

Key Quotes

“The EUR and asset markets have pushed higher, with the slight underperformance in the vote for National Front candidate Marine Le Pen (21.5%) boosting confidence that the anti-EU vote is not gaining sufficient traction to cause an upset in the second round of voting on May 7. That potentially may have implications for the anti-EU vote in other member states. Macron is expected to win 60-63% of the second round vote.”

“Overnight positive earnings from large multinationals lifted US equities, helping the MSCI All-Country Index and Nasdaq both push to all-time highs. US treasuries rose 4-6bps across the curve. The US 2 year auction drew strong demand with bidto-cover at the highest level since May 2016. In Europe the curve bear steepened, with 30 year yields up 5 to 9 bps. Commodity prices headed higher driven by softs and oil. Gold prices declined as risk sentiment improved.”