Investing.com – U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday, as investors piled into risk assets after pro-European candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday.
Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron garnered 23.8% of the vote while far-right candidate Marine Le Pen garnered 21.7%.
Meanwhile, fears eased that anti-EU candidate Marine Le Pen would pip Emmanuel Macron to the French presidency, after polls indicated a victory for Mr Macron in the runoff vote scheduled for May 7. An Ipsos/Sopra Steria poll saw Mr Macron winning the runoff by roughly 62% to 36%.
Financials, mostly banks, led the rally on Wall Street, as JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs were among the strongest performers of the session.
Risk-on sentiment drove the Nasdaq to record highs as investors look ahead to earnings from some of the biggest technology companies: Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Twitter are scheduled to release quarterly earnings later this week.
Elsewhere, investors anticipated an update from President Trump on his plan for tax reform, after he said Friday, he will unveil a tax plan on "Wednesday or shortly thereafter" that includes a “massive tax cut” for individuals and businesses.
U.S. equities shrugged off geopolitical tensions, after North Korea said on Sunday that it was ready to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier, as two Japanese navy ships joined a U.S. carrier group in the western Pacific.
In corporate earnings news, T-mobile and Alcoa reported a better than expected quarterly report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.05% higher at 20,763. The S&P 500 added 1.08% and the Nasdaq Composite closed 1.24% higher at 5983.
The ‘Bulls and Bears’ on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers included; JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) up 3.5%, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) up 2.9%, while Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) added 2.6%.
Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) down 0.7%, Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) down 0.6% and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) down 0.4%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.