Wall Street on Edge as Markets React to French, Greek Elections - East Idaho News
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Wall Street on Edge as Markets React to French, Greek Elections

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GETTY B 102511 WallStreetStock?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1336394471176Hemera/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Investors on Wall Street could be in for a rough day on Monday as the market reacts to elections results out of Greece and France.  Stock futures were down ahead of the opening bell.

On Sunday, Socialist candidate Francois Hollande defeated French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the country’s presidential elections and vowed to shift how the debt crisis there was being handled.

“Austerity can no longer be the only option for Europe,” Hollande said Sunday in his acceptance speech in reference to Sarkozy’s policies to cut government spending.

Meanwhile, Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Greece also cast new doubts on Europe’s ability to fix its debt crisis.

After months of violent anti-austerity rioting, many Greek voters ditched the two parties that have led the country for decades, supporting austerity and securing European bailout funds.

According to the exit polls, the radical leftwing party Syriza has made strong gains and the far-right Golden Dawn party has won enough votes to enter parliament. This puts the Greek austerity plan in jeopardy, and, consequently, the Euro zone and global markets.

Already overseas, stocks have reacted poorly to the news.  European and Asian markets were down on Monday.

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