A victory for one of those candidates would have followed the path set by last year’s "Brexit" vote by Britain to exit the European Union<br />and the U. S. election of President Donald Trump as a kick in the face to the globalist, free-trade worldview.<br />U. S. stocks joined a worldwide surge higher Monday after the first round of France’s<br />presidential election raised expectations that the European Union will hold together.<br />Natural gas fell 3.5 cents to $3.07 per 1,000 cubic feet, heating oil fell a penny to $1.54 per gallon<br />and wholesale gasoline dropped 2 cents to $1.62 a gallon.<br />Le Pen is one of the candidates who campaigned against the European Union, but many investors expect Macron ultimately to be victorious.<br />In the commodities market, benchmark U. S. crude oil fell 39 cents to settle at $49.23 per barrel.<br />Luca Paolini said that It’s good news, and now investors have a reason to focus on the fundamentals in Europe, which are strong,
