10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Mamta Badkar

AP Images

Good morning. Here's what you need to know.

• Asian markets were lower in overnight trading with the Nikkei down 2.78 percent. Europe is lower after elections in France and Greece. U.S. futures are moderately lower.

• Socialist Francois Hollande beat Nicolas Sarkozy nearly 52 percent - 48 percent at the French presidential elections on Sunday. Hollande has previously said that he is opposed to the fiscal compact and that he favors more ECB involvement, higher taxes and a pro-growth stance.

• But markets seem more worried about Greece than France. Parliamentary elections results showed that Greek voters have largely rejected austerity, as Conservative New Democracy got 18.86 percent of the vote with 108 seats. Meanwhile, anti-austerity left-coalition Styriza got 16.77 percent of the vote with 52 seats beating PASOK's 13.18 percent of the vote with 41 seats, according to latest numbers from ekathimerini.

• Berkshire Hathaway had its annual shareholder meeting in Omaha this weekend. The biggest news out of the conference was that Buffett had considered acquiring a $22 billion company one or two months ago and is still looking for a such deal.

• In earnings news, Pitney Bowes is expected to report earnings of $0.50 per share and DISH Network is expected to announce earnings of $0.70.

• German factory orders climbed 2.2 percent in March from the previous month.  Factory orders were driven by demand from outside the euro area.

• U.S. consumer credit for March will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET. Consensus is for a $9.8 billion month-over-month rise in consumer credit. 

• Indonesia's economy grew 6.3 percent in the first quarter from a year ago. GDP growth was driven by a boost in investment which offset a slowdown in exports. 

• Reuters is reporting that Carl Icahn has sold his $250 million debt holdings in Philip Falcone's LightSquared. Falcone is trying to negotiate with creditors to avoid a debt default.

• Syria is witnessing its first multiparty parliamentary elections in 50 years today. There are a total of 7,195 candidates for the 250 seats but the opposition has dismissed the elections as a "farce".