Stock Futures Dip After Macron Win in French Election

New York (May 8)  Stock futures dipped on Monday after centrist Emmanuel Macron claimed victory in the French election, a result that was widely expected.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.06%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.11%, and Nasdaq futures slid 0.05%.

President-elect Macron won the French runoff election on Sunday in a decisive victory with 66% of the vote compared to Marine Le Pen's 34%. Macron had run on a platform of improving relations within the European Union and making the country more competitive in the global market.

Far-right nationalist Le Pen had called for stricter immigration laws and rejected France's position in the EU. Le Pen had frequently been compared to Donald Trump throughout the campaign. A win for Le Pen would have destabilized France's position in the EU and made the future of the bloc uncertain.

European markets didn't rally, however, as the results were largely predicted. Polls heading into Sunday's vote indicated Macron had a wide lead over Le Pen. France's CAC 40 fell 0.86% on Monday, Germany's DAX declined by 0.25%, and the FTSE 100 in London climbed 0.1%.

Kate Spade (KATE) surged 10% in premarket trading after agreeing to be acquired by Coach (COH) . The handbag brand offered to purchase Kate Spade for $18.50 a share in cash, a deal valued at $2.4 billion and which represented a 9% premium to Kate Spade's closing price on Friday. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter and result in $50 million in synergies.

Straight Path Communications ( STRP) rose more than 15% in premarket trading after confirming it had received a better offer than its current merger agreement with AT&T ( T) . Straight Path confirmed the offer of $184 a share, or $3.1 billion, from an unnamed "multi-national telecommunications company." AT&T and Straight Path had agreed to a buyout offer of $95.63 a share in April. AT&T can now increase its previous bid. 

Horizon Pharma ( HZNP) slumped 22% in premarket trading following weaker-than-expected quarterly results and after announcing plans to purchase River Vision Development  for $145 million. Its quarterly loss widened to 56 cents a share from 28 cents in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings of 21 cents a share came in 2 cents below estimates. Sales also fell below analysts' expectations.

CEO Timothy Walbert said the company's primary care business unit "performed well below our expectations" over the quarter, largely tied to a change in the contracting model with pharmacy benefit managers.

Source:TheStreet