FINAL COUNT UPDATE: Pro-European Emmanuel Macron wins by more than two percentage points over nationalist Marine Le Pen and remains the favourite to win the runoff on May 7.
FINAL FIGURES UPDATE:
Counting finished in the early morning (Paris time) with no changes in the places. Macron boosted his slightly to 23.75% and Le Pen was next with 21.53%. Fillon failed to make the 20% mark with 19.91%, edging out Mélenchon with 19.64%.
10.15am Macron claims victory; favourite to win on June 7
Pro-European politicians inside and outside France have hailed Emmanuel Macron's narrow lead over nationalist Marine Le Pen in the first round of the French presidential election.
“I want to be the president of patriots against the threat of all the nationalists,” Mr Macron told supporters as pollster prediction gave him a more than two percentage point lead over Ms Len Pen and her anti-European policies.
At midnight Paris time, with 82% of ballots counted, Mr Macron had 23.3% to Ms Le Pen's 22.6%. Latest projections show Mr Macron with 23.9% and Ms Le Pen with 21.7%.
These top two polling candidates go to the runoff on June 7. Polls taken before the election show Mr Macron will be a clear winner.
Third-placed François Fillion, the candidate of Les Républicains, pledged he would vote for Mr Macron, “I have no other choice than vote against the extreme right,” he said.
The latest poll predictions give Mr Fillon 19.9%.
On the Left, the Socialist canadiade, Benoît Hamon, polled a projection of just 6.4% while the far-Left Jean-Luc Mélenchon finished fourth on 19.2%. He hasn't pledged to either of the winning candidates and has requested his supporters to vote for their preference on his website.
European leaders across the continent celebrated Mr Macron’s advance to the runoff. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel praised Mr Macron as “the only truly pro-European candidate who didn’t hide behind prejudices about Europe.”
The two leading candidates have broken French political tradition because neither leads a party with a significant presence in the parliament. That election is scheduled for June and they will have to build support for their own respective parties against the dominant Socialists and Republicans.
9.30am UPDATE: Macron pulls ahead of Le Pen
New projections show En Marché's Emmanuel Macron has pulled ahead of the National Front's Marine Le Pen in the first round of the French presidential election.
The projection shows Mr Macron on track to win 23.9% of the vote, based on sampling at polling booths. Ms Le Pen is not far behind on 27.9%.
Latest currency trading shows the euro has risen by more than 2% to above $US1.09 against the greenback, its highest level since November, and has surged 3.4% to ¥120.5 against the Japanese yen.
Earlier story:
A pollster’s early prediction is pointing to a predicted runoff in the French presidential election between En Marché's Emmanuel Macron and National Front leader Marine Le Pen.
Projections by the Kantar-Sofres polling firm showed both are on track to each win 23% of the vote, the same figure as public opinion polling showed throughout the campaign.
In the runoff to be held in a fortnight, both candidates will have to appeal to supporters of the losing candidates, two of whom represent the major Republican and Socialist parties.
Socialist candidate Benoît Hamon, who is predicted to win just 7% of the vote, has already called on his voters to support Mr Macron, a former minister in the ruling Socialist government before he quit to launch his own party, En Marché.
Republican candidate François Fillon, who is tipped to finish third with 19%, has also pledged support for Mr Macron, leaving those of Jean-Luc Mélenchon (also tipped for 19%) in the balance.
Mr Mélenchon has yet not conceded defeat. Although he is on the far Left of the political spectrum, many of his policies echo those of Ms Le Pen – withdrawal of France from the EU and or the euro, higher taxes on business and the well-paid, plus longer holidays and less work for workers.
The ballot boxes have closed and counting is under way. The poll predictions are based on samples of votes cast at polling stations across France.
Opinion polls conducted before Sunday’s election indicate Mr Macron will defeat Ms Le Pen in a head-to-head contest, to be held on May 7, by a margin of three to one.
