REUTERS/Michaela Rehle
Good morning. Here's what you need to know:
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Asian markets were all up. Japan's Nikkei soared, closing up 1.54%; Korea's Kospi, 0.98%; and Hong Kong's Hang Seng, 0.99%. European markets were also all up and U.S. futures were pointing higher.
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We saw more positive data out of China, with three key indicators besting expectations, Reuters reported. China's annual industrial output jumped 10.4% in August, retail sales rose 13.4%, and fixed-asset investment spiked 20.3% (in the first eight months from the same period last year).
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After talk of a "hard landing," China's positive economic data led BofAML to adjust growth targets. "With today’s higher-than-expected IP growth reading, we see clear upside risk to our 7.6% yoy growth forecast for 3Q13 and 7.6% annual GDP growth forecast for 2013. As we expected, Street economists have already revised up their growth forecasts in the past month, but we now expect another round of upward growth revisions on the Street in the next couple of weeks," they wrote.
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U.K. housing prices reached their highest levels in 6 years, Bloomberg's Scott Hamilton reported. The London-based RICS survey, a poll of property surveyors, rose to 40 from a revised 37 in July, the highest print since November 2006.
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At 10:00 A.M. we'll get the Job Openings and Labor Market Survey, or the "JOLTS" report, which will provide data on job openings, hires, layoffs, and quits in the United States. For the past few months, job openings have been on the rise but hirings have more or less flatlined.
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Apple will unveil its new iPhone at a big press event in Cupertino, California today. The company will release a new phone that Apple-watchers are calling the 5S as well as a cheaper, plastic phone called the 5C.
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WalMart will become the largest company to offer a smartphone "trade-in" program, CNBC's Courtney Reagan reports. Starting September 21st, customers looking to upgrade will be able to get immediate in-store credit ranging from $50 to $300 for over 100 smartphones.
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A 26-year-old analyst at Hedgeye Risk Management is being blamed for causing a sell-off in energy giant Kinder Morgan after a nasty missive to clients. Shares dropped 6% last Wednesday after the letter circulated, Reuters' Anna Driver reports. Kevin Kaiser, the analyst, has since been criticized by Wall Street for a lack of specifics in report. One investor called Kaiser "a 26-year-old man with a fancy title and very limited work experience."
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Economist Bill McBride, charter of our monthly "scariest jobs chart" showing just how deep this recession is, writes that "at the recent pace of private sector job growth - plus a positive benchmark revision in January - the private sector could be back at the pre-recession peak in early 2014."
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A new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll reveals that just 33% believe that Congress should approve of President Obama's plan to take military action in Syria, the Journal's Neil King Jr. reports. The president will address the nation on Syria tonight.