The daily business briefing: April 24, 2017

French election's first round lifts stocks, flight attendants' association defends suspended American Airlines worker, and more

An American Airlines plane in California
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

1. French vote lifts stocks

U.S. stock index futures jumped by 1.2 percent early Monday and European stocks soared as investors expressed relief that centrist Emmanuel Macron had come out on top in the first round of France's presidential election. Macron is considered the favorite to win the second round on May 7, in which he will face off against second-place vote-getter Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front who has called for clamping down on immigration and pulling France out of the European Union. "While markets had deemed a Le Pen-Macron (run-off) as the most likely outcome, there was an element of uncertainty," said Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz. "Now that this has been lifted, there will be a relief rally, bolstered by how quickly the mainstream candidates ... have endorsed Macron, the market's favorite."

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.