10 things you need to know before the opening bell (SPY, SPX, QQQ, DIA)

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May 15, 2017 11:50 AM

This is what traders are talking about.

Demonstrators near a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela.

Here is what you need to know.

Saudi Arabia and Russia agree to extend oil-production cuts until March 2018. West Texas Intermediate crude oil is trading up by 3% at $49.24 a barrel after the two sides agreed to extend the terms of the existing production cuts until March 2018.

China's industrial production slows. Data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics showed that industrial production grew by 6.5% year-over-year in April. That was below both March's 7.6% print and the 7.1% that economists had forecast.

Theresa May's Conservative Party has a big lead in the polls. A poll released by ComRes for the Sunday Mirror and The Independent shows Theresa May's Conservative Party with an 18-point lead over Labour before the June 8 national election, AFP says.

Macron is sworn in. Emmanuel Macron took the oath of office Sunday, becoming France's youngest president ever.

Money poured into the euro after the French election. Net short positioning in euro futures and options contracts fell by $1.4 billion to $7 billion, data released Friday by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed.

Bitcoin is gaining ground before the SEC's Winklevoss ETF ruling. The cryptocurrency trades up by 3.5% at $1,750 a coin ahead of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's ruling on whether it will reverse its decision to reject the Winklevoss twins' exchange-traded fund.

The global ransomware cyberattack has claimed more than 200,000 victims. "We are running around 200 global operations against cybercrime each year, but we've never seen anything like this," Europol executive director Rob Wainwright told Britain's ITV on Sunday.

Stock markets around the world are mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+0.9%) led in Asia, and Germany's DAX (-0.3%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open unchanged near 2,390.

Earnings reports trickle out. Forterra and Premium Brands report ahead of the opening bell.

US economic data is light. Empire Manufacturing will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, and the NAHB Housing Market Index will cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is little changed at 2.32%.

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