– This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on April 24, Monday.
Welcome to CNBC Business Daily, I'm Qian Chen.
U.S. stock futures opened sharply higher, with Dow futures soaring nearly 200 points as early results from the French election showed Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen advancing to a presidential runoff.
S&P and Nasdaq futures both spiked around 1 percent.
The euro, meanwhile, rose sharply against the dollar on Sunday.
Reuters data showed the common currency jumped to a five-and-a-half month high of around $1.0935 against the greenback, from a Friday close near $1.072.
The euro also climbed more than 1 percent against the British pound and more than 3 percent versus the Japanese yen.
[KINGSLEY JONES, Jevons Global Founder and CIO] "I think signs are positive for Macron victory. Now let's think about why markets might want that. I mean, some of it is politics, but the big part of it is really Le Pen's strategy we got in the Euro, all her statements about wanting to leave, and redenominated debt. That would be a lot of financial instability, not only for France but also for the Europe. Markets aren't gonna like it very much."
Far-right candidate Le Pen and centrist Macron were largely expected to pull ahead in the first round of the French contest. The two had led most of the polls leading up to the election. Le Pen and Macron will face off again on May 7. Most polls show Macron easily beating Le Pen in the second round.
Macron would take 62 percent of the vote, compared with 38 percent for Le Pen, according to the Ipsos poll for France Television.
[Andrew Freris, CEO, Ecognosis Advisory] "It is basically solid because according to the Poll, Macron has a 20 percent lead over on the one-to-one runoff, so she will need quite a major reversal in the fortunes, or her fortunes, anybody's fortunes for her to win the election."
It's the first time in French history that neither candidate from a major political party is in the second round runoff.
CNBC's Qian Chen, reporting from Singapore.