10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Mamta Badkar

 Sep. 7, 2012

Alex Wong/Getty Images

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

• Asian markets were rallying in overnight trading with the Shanghai Composite surging 3.70 percent, after policymakers approved investment projects that are being viewed as stimulus. Europe is significantly higher for the second day in a row, and U.S. futures are modestly higher.

• Non-farm payrolls gained just 96,000 in August, way below expectations of 120K. But the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent.

• China announced that it approved 25 subway lines and 13 highway projects in the months of June, July, and August which markets perceived as stimulus. This sent the Shanghai Composite surging nearly 4 percent. Nomura's Zhiwei Zhang wrote that this signals a change in the government's policy stance.

• Apple is looking to launch a streaming radio service like Pandora, according to the WSJ. Apple is reportedly in talks with music labels and the new radio service would work across Apple and Microsoft devices, but not on Google-powered Android phones.

• At his Democratic National Convention speech last night president Obama vowed to help revive the U.S. economy by creating jobs and presented himself as a supporter of middle class Americans. 

• Luluemon reported adjusted earnings of $0.34 per share, beating expectations of $0.31 per share. It also raised its guidance and now expects $1.76 - $1.81 per share for the full-year.

• Glencore raised its bid for Xstrata to $37 billion, up from $34 billion.
  Xstrata's second largest shareholder Qatar had warned that it would vote against the original deal unless the offer was raised.

• The yield on the Spanish two-year has fallen below the 3 percent mark. Borrowing costs declined after European Central Bank president Mario Draghi revealed his new bond purchase program.

• German industrial production unexpectedly climbed 1.3 percent in July from the previous month when it fell 0.4 percent.

• The Greek economy contracted 6.3 percent year-over-year in the second quarter, according to the latest data from Elstat