Europe Stocks Hold Steady as Macron Beats Le Pen in French Vote

(Bloomberg) -- European stocks closed near the highest level since August 2015, ending the session little changed after centrist Emmanuel Macron's victory in the French presidential election, indicating investors had mostly priced in the outcome that polls had consistently predicted.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1 percent at the close, while the Euro Stoxx 50 Index lost less than 0.5 percent. France's CAC 40 Index fell 0.9 percent after rallying in the previous two sessions. Among industry groups, real estate and travel companies climbed the most, offsetting a drop in miners. The region's stocks had already rallied since the first round of the presidential election on April 24, with the broader Stoxx 600 still up 9 percent this year.

• Macron received 66 percent of expressed votes. The far-right, anti-euro Marine Le Pen, who sought to take France out of the European Union, had 34 percent.
• Some analysts argue Macron's victory has been largely priced into the stock market, as polls had repeatedly predicted he would win against Le Pen by a wide margin. “Overall, any (further) sustainable upside in stocks should be limited,” Bankhaus Lampe equity strategist Ralf Zimmermann wrote in a note. 
• The outcome will likely release the “political handbrake” which has impacted investor behavior thus far, Citigroup Inc. strategist Jonathan Stubbs wrote in a note. He expects international investors, including those from the U.S., to now buy more European equities.
• The Vstoxx index of Euro Stoxx 50 volatility dropped 15 percent, its biggest decline since April 24 after the first round voting results were announced.
• German factory orders expanded for a second month as Europe's largest economy picked up speed, in the latest sign the region's economic recovery is strengthening.

--With assistance from Elena Popina

To contact the reporter on this story: Aleksandra Gjorgievska in London at agjorgievska@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net, Todd White, Richard Richtmyer