Stocks build on France-induced surge

LONDON: Stock markets mostly rose Tuesday following the previous session's record runs triggered by the first-round result of France's presidential election.

Global shares had soared Monday after centrist Emmanuel Macron topped the initial vote and looked well on course to beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in a run-off next month.

"Markets have continued their push higher from yesterday, although at a much more relaxed pace," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG trading group.

"The immediate impact of Macron's first-round success is wearing off, but the relief is still palpable among investors."

All major European stock markets were higher at the close, although their gains were nowhere near the size of Monday's Macron-fuelled surge.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 0.1 percent having rallied 3.4 percent Monday while the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.2 percent after closing up 4.1 percent in the week's first trading session.

London was up 0.2 percent at the closing bell.

- 'No knight in shining armour' -

If, as is widely expected, Macron is swept to the French presidency, he will still face the problem of building a parliamentary majority, analysts cautioned.

"A Macron presidency avoids the immediate threat of Frexit but he is unlikely to be France's knight in shining armour," said Jasper Lawler, Senior Market Analyst at LCG.

"Without an established party behind him, Macron may find victory in parliamentary elections in June harder to come by," he said.

The euro held on to most of Monday's spectacular gains, remaining well above $1.09.

Meanwhile, Wall Street was over one percent higher approaching midday in New York on the back of strong corporate earnings, while the Nasdaq breached the 6,000 level for the first time.

"US stocks are adding to yesterday's rally in early action, with a plethora of earnings reports from Dow members, highlighted by results from 3M and Caterpillar, picking up where the French Presidential election results left off," said analysts at Charles Schwab.

Attention will soon move to the unveiling Wednesday of US President Donald Trump's much-vaunted tax overhaul, which will reportedly call for cuts to personal and corporate rates.

Trump's pledge to slash taxes and boost infrastructure spending were key drivers of a global market rally after his November election, though the past few weeks have seen a retreat as he failed to pass healthcare legislation, throwing his agenda into doubt.

In Asia on Tuesday, the Tokyo and Seoul stock markets each jumped more than one percent and Hong Kong won 1.3 percent.