Sarkozy concedes French election defeat to Hollande

French President Nicolas Sarkozy conceded defeat to Socialist Francois Hollande in Sunday's presidential election runoff within half an hour of the last polling stations closing.
"I have just spoken to him on the telephone to wish him good luck," Sarkozy said, as polling institutes projected Hollande would win the election with between 51.8 to 52% of the vote, based on initial counts of ballots cast.
Sarkozy told his supporters that he took responsibility for his defeat, saying: "It's the number one who takes responsibility."
"It's not a surprise. It's a bit closer than expected, which is reassuring. It's a comfortable victory and now it's time to think about the future. The Socialist party is well set to win the legislative elections,” said BNP Paribas economist Dominique Barbet.
"The real question is whether the Socialist Party can win its own majority or whether it will have to rely on allied parties, like the Greens or the Communists as well as (Jean-Luc) Melenchon's party."
"Hollande's victory has been priced in for a month now. Frankly, it won't change the mood across Europe, at least on the short term,” added Arnaud Scarpaci, fund manager at Agilis Gestion in Paris.
“The immediate impact won't be on the euro currency or the French debt, but rather on the stock market. The losers will be the investment banks such as Societe Generale and utilities linked to the nuclear sector such as EDF and Areva, in the cross hairs of Hollande, while construction groups such as Saint-Gobain will be the clear winners as Hollande has promised to build social housing.”