The New York Stock Exchange is set to start Monday morning higher after the Rassemblement National came out on top in the French parliamentary elections, as expected, but without any breakthroughs.

Half an hour before the opening, futures on the main New York indices were up between 0.1% and 0.3%, suggesting a green start to the session.

Initial estimates put the RN and its allies in the lead, with over 33% of the vote, but the many calls for a Republican front in the face of the populist party's emergence make the scenario of an absolute majority in the Assembly unlikely.

From the strategists' point of view, a parliament without a clear majority could ultimately represent a rather favorable scenario for the equity markets.

'Although this would entail a prolonged period of political deadlock, pension reform would probably remain unchanged, and prevent the additional deficit spending advocated by both the far right and the left', point out the teams at Swiss bank J.Safra Sarasin.

The positive reaction of the European stock markets, particularly the Paris Bourse (+1.7%), suggests that these results are in line with investors' expectations.

With the political situation in Europe evolving in a reassuring manner, the spotlight will be on economic indicators during this week, which will be shortened by one day.

Wall Street will remain closed on Thursday, the Independence Day holiday in the USA.

Among the indicators on the agenda will be the publication on Friday of US employment figures for June, which will give the pulse of the world's leading economy and shed light on the Fed's intentions.

Should these indicators prove positive, investors could temporarily turn their attention away from Europe, enabling stock market indices to reach new highs.

Over the first half of the year as a whole, the Nasdaq has gained more than 18%, while the S&P 500 is not far behind, with a gain of almost 15%.

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