European markets take a dip after Macron eases home in France
European markets gave a muted response to Emmanuel Macron’s triumph in the French presidential elections today, with some traders seizing the opportunity to cash in on the widely-expected result.
Stock markets had rallied in recent weeks in anticipation of a victory for centrist Macron and today shook off early gains to turn negative.
“Given that Macron’s election win was fully expected by markets, early price movements show a small degree of profit-taking,” said Investec Wealth & Investment’s Darren Ruane.
France’s blue-chip index, the CAC 40, hit nine-year highs before falling 0.6%. The country’s major financial institutions were among the worst hit, with shares in Société Générale down 2.7% and BNP Paribas 1.1% lower.
Germany’s DAX and Italy’s MIB dipped 0.2% and 0.5%.
The euro earlier surged to a six-month high of $1.1024, but was later down 0.39 cent at $1.0959.
Analysts said attention had now turned to French parliamentary elections in June, which will determine Macron’s ability to push through his business-friendly agenda, including corporation tax cuts and labour market reform.
ETX Capital analyst Neil Wilson said: “With a third of voters backing [Marine] Le Pen and abstentions high, there is not universal adoration for the ex-banker. This might make it tougher than he thinks to engineer reforms.”
