Sydney — The euro briefly vaulted to five-month peaks on Monday after the market’s favoured candidate won through to the first round of the French election, reducing the risk of a Brexit-like shock and sparking a mass unwinding of safe-haven trades. E-mini futures for the S&P 500 climbed 0.8% in early trade, while yields on 10-year US treasury notes rose almost eight basis points to 2.31%. Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1.3% as the yen retreated, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.2%. Shanghai shares, however, fell 1.5% after state media signalled Beijing would tolerate more market volatility as regulators clamped down on riskier financing. In France, centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step toward the presidency on Sunday by winning the first round of voting and qualifying for the May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine le Pen. The outcome lessens the risk of an anti-establishment shock on the scale of Britain’s vote to quit the EU with Macron...
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