Macron widens lead over Le Pen, Elabe poll shows

French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron's odds of reaching the Elysee palace improved during the latest week, a poll confirmed.

According to the latest weekly poll from Elabe, in a hypothetical 'run-off' vote in the French presidential elections scheduled for 7 May, backing for the independent centrist candidate was at 62.0%, three percentage points above the prior week's tally.

Meanwhile, support for his most likely opponent, Far-Right candidate Marine Le Pen, was pegged at 38.0%, which was down by three points.

However, Le Pen was still seen as the most likely victor in the first round of voting set for 23 April.

Elabe said 27% of voters surveyed still backed her, against 24.0% for Macro and 19.0% for Fillon.

As of 1557 GMT the yield on the 10-year French sovereign bond yield was down by one basis point to 0.91%.