Macron first sought a debate with Le Pen in February "which she refused".
Banks and industrial companies led the way higher in USA markets early Monday.
The turnout at the polls was 77.77 percent - the lowest in a French presidential election for 15 years.
Whatever the final result, Le Pen and her party will not go away.
Hollande on Monday urged voters to reject Le Pen, warning of the "risk for our country" of a far-right victory and said he himself would vote for Macron, who served as his economy minister for two years. "Our polls have an average of 60 per cent for Emmanuel Macron right now", said Mr Emmanuel Riviere, chief executive of research firm Kantar Public. "For my part, I will vote for Emmanual Macron", Hollande said on Monday.
The current president along with the main left and right parties have thrown their support behind centrist leader Emmanuel Macron. The Socialist Party's Benoît Hamon secured only 6.4 percent of the vote, and François Fillon, who came in third place and was originally the Republican front-runner, spent his campaign embroiled in a scandal.
Le Pen says she is against "Islamist globalization" and wants France to be a "true country" and not "a mere region of the European Union". "Now is the moment to move from words to action and it is the reason why it seemed essential to me" to leave the leadership role of her party, she added. "I am the presidential candidate".
Deron Williams fakes out Paul George, scores an easy two points
Boston blew a 20-point lead and trailed 65-63 before Thomas delivered 10 points during a 12-0 run that put them ahead to stay. It was the first time they were swept since the 1992 playoffs - a stretch of 37 consecutive series with at least one victory.
Coming into Sunday's presidential election in France, several candidates railed against the European Union, one of the world's dominant trading partners. She announced she was standing down as leader of her National Front (NF) party, which has an extreme history, for the rest of the campaign. Once they vote for Le Pen once, the thinking is, they'll do so again next time, especially if Macron fails to deliver on his promises. "We are going to win".
Choosing from inside the system is no longer an option.
Surveys projecting a second-round clash between Macron and Le Pen have consistently shown the centrist candidate winning by a comfortable margin.
The ex-National Front leader's vision for France calls for tougher security, closed borders and a drop in immigration. He says there is no such thing as French culture.
During regional elections in 2015, a number of Socialist candidates strategically dropped out in order to shore up support for the center-right and to forge a unified opposition to Le Pen. Mr Macron is "Hollande's baby", she said in the interview.
Investors have been unnerved by Ms Le Pen's pledges to ditch the euro, print money and possibly quit the EU.
In a race that was too close to call up to the last minute, Macron, a pro-EU ex-banker and former Economy Minister who founded his own party only a year ago, had 23.9 per cent of the votes against 21.4 per cent for Le Pen.
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