More record highs for US indexes if jobs data, tax law talks are encouraging

LAST week, US stocks rose slightly as strong earnings from technology companies, the advancement of a pro-Europe candidate in the French elections and the prospects of a tax bill from President Donald Trump drew investors back into the stock market.

If jobs data and tax law negotiations are encouraging this week, more record highs are likely for major US indexes.

Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the race for the Champs Elysee palace, the presidential residence in Paris. His opponent in the second-round runoff, Marine Le Pen, is trying to reprise the themes behind Mr Trump's surprise success in the US: promising blue-collar workers that anti-immigrant measures will prompt a revival of their factories and cities. To fulfil those promises, she would have to step back from the European Union just as Mr Trump has threatened to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement.