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The European Union (EU) leaders have given a mixed reaction to the outcome of the first round of French presidential election which saw anti-euro far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron surge through to the decisive second round in May.
The victory for pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron, who is now expected to beat right-wing rival Marine Le Pen in a deciding vote next month, sent the pan-European STOXX 50 index up 3 percent, France's CAC40 nearly 4 percent and bank stocks more than 6 percent.
However, Ms Le Pen has said any legal processes against her are just a political interference and she has called for the investigations to wait until the election has passed. "He criticised French culture", Florian Philippot, deputy leader of Ms Le Pen's National Front, told BFM TV.
Macron says his party will field candidates in all 577 constituencies, but he has also made clear that he will welcome those from other parties who share his views.
The number of votes was a record for the party, with Le Pen only narrowly beaten by Macron. Not only have all the mainstream parties joined forces to thwart her ascent, a tactic they used in 2002 to successfully shunt her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Mr Macron is seen beating Ms Le Pen by 61 per cent to 39 per cent in the run-off vote, according to pollster Opinionway yesterday.
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President Hollande added that the far-right would "deeply divide France" at a time when the terror threat requires "solidarity" and "cohesion".
Benjamin Griveaux said: "She's been in the political system for 30 years". But while a decisive victory in May would give him a bump in the parliamentary elections, it's unlikely he'd win a majority, Sheri Berman, a French politics expert at Barnard College, said.
Macron placed first in the first-round of the election, followed by Le Pen, and he is viewed as the favorite.
Head-to-head: Emmanuel Macron will meet Marine Le Pen in the runoff.
French President Francois Hollande urged voters to back his former Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, who is running for President as an independent centrist. But Ms Le Pen is unlikely to go down without a fight.
That leaves Le Pen with less than two weeks attract voters whose candidates got knocked out in the first round.
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