As we clock off for yet another Bank holiday weekend, this three-day break provides a fantastic opportunity for traders to take stock (no pun intended) of the week that was. The latest in a string of eventful trading weeks, we take a breather as we look forward to another jam-packed week ahead. Even if it is only four days long!

We arrived on Monday to a 130 point jump on the UK 100 , a 2.5% rally, while European equities as a whole breathed a sigh of relief after the first round of the French presidential election. The markets welcomed the result with open arms, as the French electorate (marginally) favoured the more central and, perhaps more importantly pro-EU, pro-business stance of Emmanuel Macron versus Marine Le Pen’s calls for France to leave the Eurozone’s common currency and return the country to the Franc.

The UK Index ‘s continental peer, the French CAC, took the plaudits, with a 209 point rally. However on Tuesday, as if Monday’s rally wasn’t enough, the CAC jumped a further 181pts or 3%, resulting in a 6% climb from the previous week’s close. Not bad for two days’ work.

On the back of the first round Macron victory, stocks on the UK Index saw significant sector-wide rallies, with Financials ruling the roost. Banking behemoths Barclays and Lloyds enjoyed gains of as much as 7% by Tuesday’s close while European names such as Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank made gains of up to 10%. This before we even mention the plethora of company results that were released this week.

Q1 earnings on both sides of the Atlantic reached top gear with US names such as Alcoa, Caterpillar, Dupont, McDonald’s and PayPal all beating expectations, helping US risk appetite push the Nasdaq composite to a fresh all-time high above 6,000pts .

However, positive results weren’t just limited to New York. London-listed names have also had a strong week; the aforementioned Banks, having on Monday ridden the coattails of continental peers following the French election result, rallied further on strong Q1 earnings. Standard Chartered and Lloyds climbed as much as 5% while RBS put on another 3% today.

But despite next week being cut a day short, there is still plenty on the calendar to look forward to.

Before we even begin the trading week, the 27 member states of the EU assemble on Saturday to discuss their negotiating position with the UK on Brexit.  Could we see greater clarity on relations between MEPs as a result? In a repeat of this week, European cash equity markets will have to measure their response following the weekend, this time on Tuesday as a result of the bank holiday.

Companies reporting next week include BP, Shell, Shire, Sainsbury’s, Next and Glencore over here, the likes of Apple and Facebook in the US, and BNP and Volkswagen in Germany. For a full list check out week in advance 

Finally, as the second round of the French election loos, markets will be keenly analysing the latest polls over the weekend, especially given Macron’s second round lead has fallen below 20 points for the first time in months. With the French polls’ accuracy proving better than in the UK and the US, might they also be correct in predicting a tighter race?

With the result likely to have major implications for financial markets at home and abroad, can you afford to be misinformed? That’s where we at Accendo come into play. There’s a reason our award-winning service is just that.

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Sam Alnakkash, Trader, 28 April