BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks rallied on Friday as investors look to the first round of presidential elections on Sunday.
Opinion polls have narrowed with the far-right Marine Le Pen catching up to President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron has voiced regret for starting campaigning late, adding that he retained a 'spirit of conquest rather than of defeat'.
'Who could have understood six weeks ago that all of sudden I would start political rallies, that I would focus on domestic issues when the war started in Ukraine,' Macron told RTL radio.
The benchmark CAC 40 jumped 95 points, or 1.5 percent, to 6,556 after ending 0.6 percent lower in the previous session.
Crédit Agricole SA rose about 1 percent. The lender said it has acquired a 9.18 percent stake in Italian lender Banco BPM S.p.A.
Peer BNP Paribas rallied 2.8 percent and Societe Generale was up 1.4 percent.
Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2022 AFX News