TOKYO/SINGAPORE — The euro firmed and US stock futures hit a record high on Monday (May 8) after centrist Emmanuel Macron comfortably won the French presidential election.

The euro rose to as high as US$1.1024, its highest in about six months, before stepping back to US$1.0998, flat from late US levels last week.

The common currency hit a one-year high of 124.58 yen and a five-month high of 1.08865 Swiss franc. Against the Singapore dollar, the euro was also at a near one-year high, trading at S$1.5487, early Monday morning (Singapore time), before steadying at around S$1.5420 at around 10.15am, showed Bloomberg data.

“Emmanuel Macron’s victory gives markets a much-deserved breather from European politics,” said Mr Bill Street, head of investments for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at State Street Global Advisors in London.

“This result, combined with last week’s preliminary Greek debt agreement, will be enough to support a short-term relief rally. Looking forward, Macron only offers upside surprises.”

The S&P 500 mini futures gained 0.2 per cent to hit a record high of 2,403.75 in early trade before giving up the gains to trade flat.

The Nikkei futures pointed to a rise of 1.4 per cent in the Nikkei average to one and a half-year high when Japanese stock market reopen at 9am after five-day Golden Week holidays.

Singapore shares also opened slightly higher, boosted by Mr Macron’s win as well as last Friday’s US jobs report. As of 10.18am, the Straits Times Index was up 0.20 per cent or 6.45 points at 3,236.18.

“Political risk in Europe has been considered as a major market theme this year. But in the Netherlands (anti-EU party leader Geert) Wilders lost in March. The French election is now out of the way,” said Mr Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

“And in Germany the ruling Christian Democrats are recovering. The political risks in Europe have receded,” he said.

Pollsters’ projections gave Mr Macron a winning margin of around 65 per cent to 35 - a gap wider than the 20 or so percentage points that pre-election surveys had suggested.

The centrist’s emphatic victory brought comfort to investors and European allies alike, who had been nervous of the risk of another populist upheaval to follow Britain’s vote to quit the EU and Mr Donald Trump’s election as US president - neither of which had been predicted by pollsters or bookmakers.

Still, the euro’s rise was slight compared with its 2 per cent surge after the first-round results on April 23, when polls had been much tighter, when there had been fears that French voters would be left with a choice between two eurosceptic, radical candidates.

Stock markets had a welcome surprise on Friday from solid US employment numbers. Nonfarm payrolls surged by 211,000 last month after a paltry gain of 79,000 in March, and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.4 per cent, near a 10-year low and well below the most recent Federal Reserve median forecast for full employment..

The hiring rebound supports the U. central bank’s contention that the pedestrian 0.7 per cent annualised economic growth in the first quarter was likely “transitory”, and its optimism that economic activity would expand at a “moderate” pace.

US 10-year Treasury futures dipped on Monday suggesting the 10-year Treasury yield could tick higher from its closing level last week of around 2.35 per cent.

Crude oil prices extended their rebound from Friday’s five-month lows, as investors bet key producers could extend output cuts beyond an agreed June cut-off.

Saudi Arabia’s OPEC governor said on Friday there was an emerging consensus among member and non-member countries on the need to extend the output-control agreement beyond June to help clear the supply glut.

Brent futures traded at US$49.54 per barrel, up 44 cents or 0.9 per cent. REUTERS WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TODAY