European leaders welcome Macron showing in first round

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker congratulated Emmanuel Macron on Sunday and wished the centrist well for the May 7 French presidential runoff against anti-EU National Front leader Marine Le Pen, Juncker's spokesman said.

Macron supporters at Porte de Versailles rally RFI/Alison Hird

"Juncker congratulated Emmanuel Macron on his result in the first round and wished him all the best for the next round," Margaritis Schinas said on Twitter.

Underlining broad support for Macron among leaders of the European Union institutions in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini from the Italian center-left added her congratulations to those of Juncker, a center-right former prime minister of Luxembourg.

"To see the flags of France and the EU hailing Emmanuel Macron's result shows hope and the future of our generation," tweeted Mogherini, 43, after the 39-year-old Macron's first-round victory speech to supporters was broadcast on television.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman on Sunday hailed the projected success of centrist Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the French presidential election.

In a Tweet, Merkel's chief spokesman Steffen Seibert said: "Good that @EmmanuelMacron succeeded with his policy for a strong EU and social market economy. Wishing him all the best for the next two weeks."

Meanwhile, former Conservative finance minister George Osborne, recently appointed editor of London's Evening Standard newspaper, hailed a good result for the centre.

"Congratulations to my friend @EmmanuelMacron. Proof you can win from the centre. At last, the chance for the leadership that France needs," he tweeted.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, whose country is not a member of the European Union, tweeted: "We need more not less cooperation in #Europe. Positive that @EmmanuelMacron is projected to win first round of #franceelections.

Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen are leading in the official vote count in France's election with about 38-39 percent of votes counted so far, official figures from the Interior Ministry showed on Sunday.

The euro surged in early trading in Asia on Sunday, while French bond yields were expected to fall and French stocks to rally on Monday morning, on relief that France had not been left with a choice between two radical, anti-EU presidential candidates.

Investors' greatest worry had been that the far-left, eurosceptic Jean-Luc Melenchon, who had surged in the polls in recent weeks, could jump ahead of Macron and make it into the final run-off against Le Pen, giving voters the choice between two radical candidates who would threaten the future of the EU.