THE MARKET LEADS, HE'LL FOLLOW:

His economic team, led by centre-left former finance minister Michel Sapin, includes politicians, industry leaders and public officials seen as market-friendly.

"The words 'grace period' do not apply to the situation. That's the reality," Sapin said, adding that the priority would be to launch discussions with France's European partners.

"Nobody expects that we simply arrive in power and hand out money. That doesn't correspond to the reality of the situation."

Economists say Hollande must quickly outline his domestic plans, likely to centre on a major tax reform, and revise over-optimistic growth targets which threaten deficit-cutting goals.

His plans to tweak a reform that raised the retirement age to 62 and increase the minimum wage are unsettling investors who fear France could drift away from the club of trusted northern European borrowers and towards the debt-laden periphery.

Standard & Poor's, which stripped France of its triple-A rating in January, said Hollande's victory had no immediate impact on its creditworthiness, though it would scrutinize his policy choices. There was at least a one in three chance of a cut to France's long-term rating within two years, it said.

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