President Emmanuel Macron is set to face his nationalist rival Marine Le Pen in the final round of the French election in a rerun of their 2017 contest.
Macron got around 28% of the vote compared with about 24% for Le Pen, according to pollsters’ projections based on partial results from Sunday’s initial ballot. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon was third with around 20%. The top two candidates will go forward to a runoff on April 24 to decide who will lead Europe’s second-biggest economy.
A late surge in support for Le Pen has focused attention on French political risk and investors will be watching closely over the next two weeks for signs that the 44-year-old president can consolidate his advantage. The yield on France’s 10-year bonds rose to a seven-year high last week on concerns at the prospect of a nationalist with longstanding sympathies for Russia taking power in the middle of the Ukraine war.
