Provisional results confirm that mainstream conservatives led by Friedrich Merz won Germany's national election, while a far-right party surged to become the nation’s second-largest.

The euro and German stocks rallied on Monday as investors welcomed Germany’s election result that put centrist parties on track to form a coalition, although optimism was tempered by potentially tricky negotiations over economic policy.

Friedrich Merz and his party won, Elon Musk didn’t seem to move voters, and more lessons from an early German vote with big implications for Europe.