The CAC 40 index advanced 0.06% to 6,552.00 points around 10:30 a.m., after opening slightly down 0.16%, close to stability thanks to “the wider gap than the polls suggested. “between Mr. Macron (27-28%) and Mrs. Le Pen (23-24%), according to Alexandre Baradez, analyst for IG France.

Before Monday's opening in Paris, the rebound of the euro on Sunday evening had already "translated a form of short-term relief from the outgoing president's score and the assumption of political and economic continuity if this dynamic remained the same in the second round", he adds.

This "relief" is confirmed by a drop in tensions on the bond market, with a "small tightening of the spread between French and German 10-year rates", of nearly 4 basis points on Monday morning, notes-t- he.

Nevertheless, this "small relief" is "quite far from a phase of massive relaxation", warns the analyst, because "investors are aware that nothing is completely done or acquired for the second round with many questions about the transfer of votes".

"A narrowing of the gap in favor of Le Pen, who is known to have a clear sympathy for Russia, could dampen the mood of investors in the run-up to the final election scheduled for April 24", confirms Ipek Ozkardeskaya , analyst at Swissquote.

And we must not forget, notes Alexandre Baradez, that "world news remains dominated by the Ukrainian crisis with its repercussions on all world markets".

The expert also underlines that we must not “forget a still tense health situation in China, whose confinements again raise fears of an increase in logistical tensions and therefore shortages accompanied by inflationary tensions”.

On the values ​​front, Societe Generale pulled the banks into the green.

Six weeks after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the French bank announced that it was ending its activities in Russia by selling its entire stake in its Russian subsidiary Rosbank.

This announcement was described as "positive" by RBC analysts, who also underlined the "manageable" impact of the operation for the French bank, even if this sale "should lead" according to it to a negative impact of 3, 1 billion euros.

Societe Generale climbed 6.01% to 23.18 euros, BNP Paris took 2.46% to 49.01 euros, Crédit Agricole 1.28% to 10.01 euros and the insurer Axa 2.54% to 26, 42 euros.

© 2022 AFP