10 Things You Need To Know Before European Markets Open

REUTERS/Ahmad MasoodThe EU wants to take a firmer stance against Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Good morning! Here's what you need to know in markets today. 

The Dow Had Its Best Day In Three Years. For the second day in a row, stocks had their best day of the year. After a huge rally on Wednesday, stocks topped these gains on Thursday, with the Dow gaining more than 400 points. This was the biggest two-day rally for stocks since 2011 and the biggest one day gain for the S&P 500 since January 2013.

German Consumer Confidence Hit An Eight Year High. Despite some gloomy headlines about Germany's economy recently, and signs that the country's growth is slowing, consumers seem to be unfazed. The GfK consumer confidence index hit 9, the highest the index has been since the end of 2006.

The US State Is Getting Rid Of Its Shares In Ally Financial. The US Treasury Department will sell its remaining 54.9 million shares of Ally Financial, acquired under the government's bailout of the auto lender, Ally said on Thursday.

The EU Is Stepping Up Its Squeeze On Putin. European Union leaders urged Vladimir Putin to make a "radical change" in his stance on Ukraine Thursday as they boosted sanctions against Crimea despite fears of economic blowback from Russia's spiralling financial crisis.

Asian Stocks Surged. Japan's Nikkei closed up 2.39%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng is currently 1.43% higher than Thursday's close. Similarly China's Shanghai Composite is up 1.50%.

Aer Lingus Rejected A Bid From IAG. Irish airline Aer Lingus has rejected a takeover bid from IAG, the airline group that owns British Airways, according to the Financial Times.. IAG is headed by Willie Walsh, Aer Lingus' former chief exec.

A Private Equity Firm Is Trying To Buy American Apparel. Clothing manufacturer American Apparel has been approached by private equity firm Irving Place Capital for a possible takeover, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

UK Borrowing Figures Are Coming. The British government's latest public borrowing figures are out at 9:30 a.m. GMT. Government borrowing is currently higher than last year's for the first seven months of the year, so without significant reductions, official targets for the current fiscal year will not be met.

Venezuela's Massive Chance Of Default Isn't Deterring Funds. Despite a massive drop in the price of Venezuela's government bonds, the debt still make up a large portion of many prominent emerging market funds, according to Bloomberg.

China Revised Up The Size Of Its Economy. China has revised up the estimated size of its economy for 2013 by 3.4% to 58.8 trillion yuan ($9.5 trillion), the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday, but said the revision will not affect economic growth this year.