Anything For You All: 10 things you need to know before the opening bell

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April 24, 2017

Here is what you need to know.

Macron and Le Pen move on in the French election. Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen have advanced to the second round of the French presidential election, taking 23.9% and 21.4% of the vote.

The euro is holding on to big gains. The currency trades up 1.2% at 1.0859 versus the dollar, and is flirting with its best close in five months, following the French election.

Stocks are flying. France's CAC (+4.4%) leads the gains in Europe after Japan's Nikkei (+1.4%) paced the advance in Asia. The S&P 500 is set to open up 1.3% near 2,380.

Gold is getting crushed. The precious metal trades down 1% at $1,271.58 an ounce as traders shed havens for riskier assets.

Oil is bouncing back. West Texas Intermediate crude oil trades up 1.1% at $50.18 a barrel amid hopes OPEC will extend its pledge to cut output for all of 2017, Reuters reports. WTI fell by about 6.5% last week as oil inventories fell by less than expected and gasoline stockpiles rose.

German business confidence is booming. Germany's Ifo Business Climate, an assessment of current conditions, jumped to 112.9 in April from 112.4 in March. While the German economy is "growing strongly," companies are "somewhat less optimistic" about their six-month business outlooks, according to Prof. Dr. Clemens Fuest, the president of the Ifo Institute.

Policymakers in China are bullish. Speaking at a G-20 summit in Washington last week, finance minister Xiao Jie said numerous positive signs were emerging from the Chinese economy, Reuters says.

Jimmy Choo is putting itself up for sale. The luxury shoe brand is "seeking offers" and says its majority shareholder, JAB Luxury GmbH, supports the process.

Earnings reporting heats up. Halliburton and Hasbro report ahead of the opening bell, while Alcoa and T-Mobile are among the names releasing their quarterly results after markets close.

US economic data is light. Dallas Fed manufacturing will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is up by 5 basis points at 2.298%.