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By 0605 GMT, futures for the Euro STOXX 50 slumped 1.7%. France’s CAC 40 index futures dropped 1.5% and German DAX futures fell 1.7%.
The euro got a brief bump after Sunday’s election results showed pro-EU centrist Macron in the lead, reassuring markets about France’s commitment to an integrated Europe even if his economic platform now depends on parliamentary elections in June. [FRX/]
France’s blue-chip CAC 40 outperformed the wider STOXX 600 index over the past two weeks on hopes of Macron’s re-election, but his relatively small poll lead over Le Pen, who favours nationalising key industries and slashing taxes, had kept investors on edge earlier.
Elsewhere, Asian stocks fell the most in two weeks after major Wall Street indexes slumped over 2.5% on Friday as investors priced in aggressive actions by the U.S. Federal Reserve to tame inflation. [MKTS/GLOB]
