Macron's predicted win sends European stocks to 20-month highs

Polls show 60% of votes for Macron

En Marche! leader Emmanuel Macron's expected win in the French election second round on Sunday has sent European stocks to 20-month highs.

This, coupled with better-than-expected Q1 results for Europe's biggest bank HSBC, sent the Euro Stoxx 600 to its highest level since August 2015, up 0.7%. The French CAC 40 climbed 1.4% to close at a nine-year high, while the euro was up 0.5% at $1.0940. According to the BBC, HSBC's profits dropped 19% to £3.9bn but this was ahead of analysts' forecasts and as a result shares in the banking giant rose 3%. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 held steady, improving by 0.2% to 7,248 points. Furthermore, according to Reuters, a poll highlighting Macron had outperformed National Front leader Marin...