U.S. dollar slumps against euro after French election

The U.S. dollar slipped against euro on Monday as the outcome of the first round of the French presidential election offered a relief to anxious investors.

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen on Sunday came out on top in the first round of the French presidential election, according to projections by polling agencies and official partial results.

An updated estimation by research firm Elabe for local broadcaster BFMTV indicates that Macron leads with 24 percent of votes, and Le Pen 21.8 percent. The two leading candidates are set to face off in the runoff on May 7.

A poll late Sunday from Ipsos/Sopra Steria showed that Macron would likely win that runoff by 62 percent to 38 percent, according to the Market Watch.

The euro rose nearly 1.2 percent against the greenback in late trading on Monday. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.83 percent at 99.144 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.0854 dollars from 1.0721 dollars, and the British pound dropped to 1.2789 dollars from 1.2790 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.7559 U.S. dollar from 0.7499 U.S. dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 109.79 Japanese yen, higher than 108.72 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar fell to 0.9969 Swiss franc from 0.9976 Swiss franc, and it edged up to 1.3515 Canadian dollars from 1.3481 Canadian dollars. Enditem