Stock market news: Opening bell, September 13, 2018

A
sales clerk exhales vapor while smoking with a vaporizer during a
wait for customers at the e-cigarette shop Henley Vaporium in New
York.
Reuters/Lucas
Jackson

Here is what you need to know.

A new round of trade talks between the US and China is
coming. “I guarantee nothing,” Larry
Kudlow, who heads the White House Economic Council, told reports,
Reuters says.

Hurricane Florence weakens, but ‘life-threatening’ storm
surges and flooding remain likely.  Hurricane
Florence was downgrade to a Category 2 storm with maximum
sustained winds of up to 110 miles per hour; however, storm surge
of between nine and 15 feet is still expected along parts of the
Carolina coast.

The Turkish lira dives after Erdogan calls for lower interest
rates. The lira fell as much as 3% to 6.5225
per dollar Thursday after Turkish President Recep
Erdogan said interest rates are a “tool of exploitation” and
called for low interest rates. The Turkish central bank is set to
make its latest rate decision later on Thursday.

A fund manager who’s crushing nearly all of her peers breaks down
3 under-the-radar stocks driving her strong
performance. Amy Zhang, who manages The Alger
Small Cap Focus Fund which has gained 47% this year,
outperforming its benchmark and all except one US fund tracked by
Morningstar, tells Business Insider why small-cap stocks are a
“fertile ground for active management.”

Apple unveils its new iPhones. At an event in
Cupertino, California, on Wednesday, the tech giant unveiled
three new iPhones, the XS, XS Max, and XR, and a next generation
Apple Watch Series 4. 

Tobacco stocks surge after the FDA threatens to pull flavored
e-cigarettes. Altria and British American Tobacco
both gained more than 6% on Wednesday after the US Food and Drug
Administration threatened to pull flavored electronic cigarettes
off the market if the industry fails to combat the epidemic of
youth e-cigarette use.

The Tesla of China fails to raise the $1.8 billion it targeted in
its US IPO. Nio, backed by Chinese tech
giant Tencent, raised $1 billion during Wednesday’s initial
public offering.

Stock markets
around the world are higher. Hong Kong’s Hang
Seng (+2.54%) paced the advance in Asia and the Euro Stoxx 50
(+0.15%) clings to gains in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to
open little changed near 2,889.

Earnings reports trickle out. Kroger reports
ahead of the opening bell and Adobe releases its quarterly
results after markets close.

US economic data keeps coming. CPI and initial
claims will both be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year
yield is up 1 basis point at 2.97%.