Major averages fell Friday on mixed volume as a number of indices continue to trade near their 50-day moving averages. The S&P 500 notched another distribution day.
Futures are up over 1% as tallies in the first round of the closely watched French presidential election showed centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right Marine Le Pen set to make it to the second and final round on May 7. The fear was that two far-right candidates would hold the top two places, thus putting the future of the EU in jeopardy.
Instead, Macron is slightly outpacing far-right Le Pen with 23.7% of the vote vs Le Pen's 21.7%. Macron has pledged to firm France’s ties with the EU which is bullish for the markets. Far-right candidates such as Le Pen, on the other hand, have vowed to hold a referendum on France's EU membership if she wins the presidency. Far-left euroskeptic Jean-Luc Melenchon trailed Le Pen and Macron, with about 19% of the vote.
The second round scheduled for May 7 will likely determine who will become France's next president. Political analysts have largely said that most will back the centrist Macron. Still, they also said Brexit would not happen nor would Trump win.
President Donald Trump plans to announce the broad outline of his proposed tax package on Wednesday. "Markets are skeptical that the real details will be forthcoming," said analysts at ANZ in a note. "There is also plenty of conjecture about whether any tax cuts will be able to be revenue neutral, and that could affect their ease of passage through Congress."