Asian shares higher, euro gains after Macron wins French election

May 08, 2017 (LBO) - Asian shares traded mostly higher on Monday following victory of Emmanuel Macron in the French elections on Sunday. Macron defeated far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election securing estimated 65.1 percent of the vote. Macron, who is 39 years old, will become France's youngest president, CNBC reported. Nikkei share average hit its highest level since December 2015 rallying 1.7 percent, although some markets remained muted. The euro hit a six-month high against the dollar to trade at $1.10 but later gave up some its gains. Euro/dollar last traded at $1.0965. "We do expect that the euro can grind higher in coming weeks and months — NAB FX Strategy's year-end target is $1.13 — partly in anticipation of the European Central Bank now expressing more confidence that downside risks to the euro zone economy and inflation have further receded," said National Australia Bank Head of FX Strategy Ray Attrill. S&P 500 futures rose 0.2 percent on the back of the news of the Macron victory as trading began for the week.