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Jake Robins, a manager at investment firm Premier Asset Management, believes Emmanuel Macron is now certain to become the next French president, and that this bodes well for the global economy. 

He points out that last week, European PMI figures (a measure of future economic output) rose yet again and Chinese growth has also beaten expectations. Even Japan is seeing a pick-up in exports. 

He also says markets that have sagged due to political risk could now shift "to a more bullish and cyclical stance" over the next few months.

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Taking their lead from European markets, US stocks have opened sharply higher after centrist Emmanuel Macron came top in the first round of voting in the French general election.

In the opening minutes of trade, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 had gained around 1% each while the Nasdaq was 1.2% higher. 

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More evidence that higher inflation is starting to rattle the British consumer. 

According to an index from consultancy firm Deloitte, consumer confidence dipped to -7 for the first quarter of 2017 from -6 in the last three months of 2016.

"Since last summer's EU referendum consumer spending has held up well, but with inflation rising and nominal wage growth starting to slow, consumers are beginning to feel a squeeze on their disposable income," Deloitte economist Ian Stewart said.

Official data last week showed retail sales posted their biggest quarterly fall in seven years in March, as the prices of everyday goods continued to climb.

As we have been reporting, markets have jumped after Emmanuel Macron came top in the first round of voting in the French presidential election. 

Investors, who like the centrist candidate's pro-EU policies, were worried that two anti-EU candidates would progress through to the second round.

But as Phillipe Legrain - head of the Open Political Economy Network think tank - tweeted, French voters still seem divided on the issue of Europe.  

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Oilfield services provider Halliburton has reported better-than-expected first quarter revenue and profit, narrowing its loss to $32m for the period. Its revenue inched up 1.9% thanks to higher demand from US shale producers.

The firm warned last month that it was seeing weak demand outside the US.

Image source, Reuters

Analysts are predicting that US stocks will join the market rally when they open in just under an hour. 

Bank of America , Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan shares are all up over 2% in pre-market trading with the overall S&P index, Dow and Nasdaq all expected to open 1% higher. 

We missed this earlier, but accounting firm Grant Thornton has been fined £2.3m by accounting watchdog The Financial Reporting Council (FRC).

The FRC said that the firm had failed to challenge "fictitious revenues" at listed fire and rescue services firm AssetCo.

It said the accounting firm and one of its now retired partners, Robert Napper, have admitted misconduct and agreed to fines and other sanctions. 

"The respondents have admitted that their failings arose as a result of the significant and widespread lack of professional competence and due care in the performance of the audits," the FRC said in a statement. 

Dulux paintmaker Akzo Nobel's shares are currently up 4.5% following US rival PPG's  third offer. 

Akzo's shares have now gained 37% since January, in a sign that investors are expecting some kind of deal.

Akzo holds its annual meeting tomorrow and it's likely to face fresh pressure to give in to what PPG boss Michael McGarry said is a "compelling deal".

Shareholders, led by hedge fund Elliott Advisors, say Akzo should at least open exploratory talks with PPG.

The market rally on the back of Emmanuel Macron's victory in the first round of the French presidental election continues. 

The FTSE 100 has held onto its gains to be up 1.7% at 7,236 points. On the continent it's a similar story with France's CAC-40 still 4.5% higher and Germany's DAX up almost 3%.

Energy firms are the biggest FTSE losers due to government plans to cap household energy bills. Centrica is down 4.5%, with SSE off 3.2%.

Image source, Konanzzang/Instagram

Samsung will offer an unusually early software update for its new Galaxy S8 smartphone after some consumers complained of red-tinted screens.

Images of their phones went viral on social media but Samsung denied a hardware flaw and said users could manually adjust the colour range.

However, Samsung decided to release a software update to let owners "adjust the colour setting to their preference".

Samsung has pinned its hopes on the S8 to compete against Apple's iPhone after last year's flammable Note 7 disaster.

Image source, Bally

After backing the sale of Jimmy Choo - of which it is the biggest shareholder - JAB Luxury is also looking to flog Bally, external. It's also a "luxury footwear" maker (translation: shoes) that makes handbags and the like as well.

Bally was founded in Switzerland in 1851 and JAB has owned a stake in the firm since 2008. Luxury is now deemed non-core following JAB's investments in consumer goods such as coffee and cosmetics.

Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor

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Emmanuel Macron has been installed as the overwhelming favourite to be the next French president - but what does that mean for business, and Brexit?

For the bigger economic picture, a Macron win removes the chance of a political and economic shock to Europe's core.

Marine Le Pen's calls for France to leave the eurozone have been seen as an existential threat to the entire European project.

Macron's likely win has seen the French stock market and the euro surge as that threat is seen as receding.

Read more: What does French result mean for Brexit?

Scotland business editor Douglas Fraser tweets:

That revised bid has sent shares in Akzo Nobel 5.7% higher to 82.70 euros in Amsterdam.

In something of a veiled threat, PPG boss Michael McGarry said his firm was extending "this one last invitation" to AkzoNobel.

"Our revised proposal represents a second increase in price along with significant and highly-specific commitments that we are confident Akzo Nobel's stakeholders will find compelling," he said.

Image source, PA

UK-manufactured goods are in strong demand, according to the CBI's latest industrial trends survey. 

The business body said domestic orders had improved at the fastest pace since July 2014 in the first three months of the year. Export orders grew at their strongest rate for six years.

The CBI said firms were at their most optimistic about selling in more than four decades.

However, it warned the weak pound, which has fallen sharply against the euro since the EU referendum, continued to push up manufacturing costs. 

Image source, Hasbro

Hasbro, the second-biggest US toymaker, reported a 2.2% rise in quarterly revenue following strong demand for toys based on franchises including Transformers and Nerf guns.

Revenue rose to $849.7m in the first quarter to 2 April, while net profit jumped almost $20m to $68.6m.

Image source, Akzo Nobel

PPG, the US firm stalking Dulux paint maker Akzo Nobel, has made a revised proposal of 96.75 euros a share - an increase of 6.75 euros a share. The 8% increase over the second offer values the Dutch company at almost 25bn euros.

Akzo has thus far declined to engage in talks with PPG but several big shareholders have called for it to do so.

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The Government is seeking to delay publishing a report on tackling air pollution until 15 September, a spokesman for the prime minister said. 

It had until 4pm today to come up with a plan to improve air quality and meet nitrogen dioxide limits set by the European Union after the High Court ruled a calculation of future vehicle emissions was too optimistic. 

Business presenter Susannah Streeter tweets:

Brexit threatens workers' rights, according to the Communication Workers Union.

Delegates at the union's annual conference in Bournemouth called for the rights of workers and unions to be protected under the settlement negotiated by the Government. 

Cutting red tape could deregulate the economy, with low wages becoming the norm, delegates warned.

London delegate Will Murray said: "We need to campaign to make sure workers do not pay the price for Brexit because we face the greatest stripping of workers' rights in living memory."