A first-round parliamentary election result promising President Emmanuel Macron a crushing majority in parliament lifted investor sentiment on Monday though the lowest voter turnout in modern history clouded celebration.
Pollsters said Macron was on course to win as much as three quarters of National Assembly seats in the June 18 second round after 28 per cent of those who voted in Sunday's first round chose his Republic on the Move (LREM) party.
That would be France's biggest majority in decades, and effectively leaves only the powerful trade union movement as a potential obstacle to the pro-business reforms ex-banker Macron has promised to introduce in a bid to boost growth and jobs.
The vote delivered a crushing blow to the Socialist and conservative parties that had alternated in power for decades until Macron's election in May blew apart the left-right divide.
First-round results decided only four of the 577 seats on offer, leaving the rest to be fought out on June 18 by two or more candidates who survived elimination.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel congratulated French President Emmanuel Macron on the victory of his party in the first round of parliamentary elections, calling the result a strong vote for reforms.