It's Panic-Off for French Bonds

Emmanuel Macron’s success in the first round of the French presidential election has seen the nation's assets kicking away the political fears of the past six months. If he does win the second round to become president, as the markets now fully expect, then a more unified Europe may well result.

However, it is France's equities that stand to gain most rather than debt markets, as they'd clearly been held back by the handbrake of political worries. Stocks had their best day in five years, climbing to the highest since 2008. French banks have been the major outperformers since Sunday night’s result, with some rising by as much as 10 percent, though they have the advantage of coming from a relatively cheap starting point compared to global peers.