FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - After the first round of the French election, the German stock market started the new week with clear gains. The Dax rose by 1.04 percent to 18,425.66 points in the first few minutes of trading after ending the month of June and the second quarter in the red. The MDax gained 1.21 percent to 25,480.08 points on Monday morning.

The EuroStoxx, the leading eurozone index, rose by around 1.8 percent. The Paris Cac 40 even surged by 2.6 percent after falling to its lowest level since January on Friday. Since President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the French parliament and announced new state elections following the European elections, which went badly for him, the Cac 40 had fallen by almost 6 percent.

In France, right-wing nationalist and bourgeois parties are fighting for power in the country after the first round of the parliamentary elections. Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National (RN) is hoping to win an absolute majority in the National Assembly after its expected first-round victory and thus come to power. However, her lead is less clear than feared./edh/mis