European stocks rose on Monday, led by French shares after the far-right National Rally party made historic gains in the first round of parliamentary elections but by a smaller margin than some polls had expected.
France's CAC 40 jumped 2.6 percent, outperforming regional markets, helped by major banks including BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole, which gained between 4.8 percent and 7.9 percent.
This helped lift the pan-European STOXX 600 index by 1% by 0709 GMT, after four straight sessions of losses.
The National Rally party and its allies won 33 percent of the vote, while the leftist Popular Front alliance won 28 percent of the vote, and the centrist alliance to which President Emmanuel Macron belongs came in third with only about 20 percent.
The final outcome of the election will depend on political bargaining before the runoff on July 7.
The CAC 40 index closed at its weakest level in more than five months on Friday, weighed down by concerns over France's fiscal discipline under the new government.
In terms of individual stock performance, Atos shares rose 11.7 percent after the French technology company reached an agreement with a group of banks and bondholders on the terms of restructuring its debt.
Nestle shares rose 1.1 percent after its chief executive said in an interview with a local newspaper over the weekend that the Swiss food giant aims to maintain the sales growth rate achieved in the second quarter for the rest of the year while easing cost increases.
