Warren Buffett says he never wants to be out of the stock market

• Buffett tells CNBC he doesn't make knee-jerk reactions about stocks after events like the French presidential election.
• "It's a question of owning businesses. If I wanted to own farms, I wouldn't be buying and selling them based on an election."

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett told CNBC on Monday he never wants to be out of the stock market.

In an exclusive interview on "Squawk Box," Buffett said he doesn't make knee-jerk reactions about stocks after events like the French presidential election.

"It's not a question of being in the market," he said. "It's a question of owning businesses. If I wanted to own farms, I wouldn't be buying and selling them based on an election. I wouldn't try to figure that sort of thing out."

Buffett's comment came as U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Monday after the French presidential election ended with centrist Emmanuel Macron defeating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, as expected.

Buffett said he wasn't waiting on the election results to make investment decisions. "I can't think of what I really (would) have done much about purchases or sales in any election," he said.

"When I was a kid, every time a Democrat got elected ... there was a wake in our house, and my father would start storing sugar in the basement. So, I've learned to not put too much weight in any given election," he said. Buffett's father, Howard, was a four-term Republican congressman from Nebraska.

Monday's interview on CNBC came two days after Buffett spoke for hours in front of some 40,000 attendees at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska, the site of Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting.

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— Buffett joins CNBC for three hours Monday morning until 9 a.m. ET.