Skip to main content

tv   Bloomberg Daybreak Asia  BLOOMBERG  March 6, 2024 7:00pm-8:00pm EST

7:00 pm
>> this is "daybreak asia." we are counting down to asia's major market opens and that side of relief is going to the pretty palpable. jay powell indicating they are looking to cut rates. not quite just yet but the path is pretty much the same when we thought we were on already. haidi: maybe not so palpable as any sense of relief when it comes to investors looking at china. we have seen policymakers across the board kind of hitting back, defending that around 5% gdp target, saying it is attainable and there is room for further cut rrr and the other thing of course we are watching is japan, this kind of rapid positioning for lift off from the boj and those wage numbers were not too bad. annabelle: certainly, actually pretty much stronger than what had been expected because we saw cash earnings rising to percent
7:01 pm
and that was a lot more than what the survey had been for a gain of 1.2% but this is the start of trading here we have got with the broader index or the nikkei 225 that is back above the 40,000 marked them. we have been fractionally below that over the course of the week but certainly, the stock moves we are seeing here echoing the u.s. session overnight as we did have jay powell delivering the first of his testimony but certainly indicating that the path for rate cuts is clear later this year perhaps. so that is playing into the dynamics around the dollar weakness that we have seen and the yen off that. we are fractionally below that mark. as you said, that is positioning as well that is coming into play around expectations for the boj to be exiting and something that is really going to put pressure on them perhaps as you say are the wages data we got out because we had labor cash earnings rising year on year more than the survey. real cash earnings were still in contraction territory but again, it is that picture we are seeing
7:02 pm
of improving wages demand and that is what they really want to see sustained that they want to see, sustained gains. that is japan. let's shift now and take a look at the outlook for korea as we come online here and again, it is that positivity, that tone of optimism we are seeing come back into markets and the session so far and again, that story of dollar weakness that is playing out a little bit. we did have the green backsliding to around a one-month low, the korean won once again a little bit more positive here even though you see u.s. futures treading water at this point in time. haidi. haidi: take a look at how we are traveling when it comes to the direction of trade here in australia. we are seeing a little bit of upside, .25% we are still seeing levels pretty close to record highs at this point so kind of incremental gains being seen the asx 200 today and the
7:03 pm
aussie dollar starting to gain a little bit more momentum. we saw the lows for the session when it comes to the greenback after what has been a few weeks of more or less range bound trading but still, we see some views when it comes to potential downside risk for the aussie. disappointment from the chinese economy is at the top of that list but in this session, we are seeing the aussie being supported by some of the high metals prices and crude prices as well as some of the stocks we are watching in australia trading today including rio tinto and bhp is want to watch as well. also watching crude markets, seeing a little bit of softness when it comes to new york crude just under $80 a barrel there. we have seen prices really holding close to the year's end high, mostly on signs of strong u.s. gasoline demand rising -- rising fuel demand remains the world's biggest consumer of gasoline. stockpiles falling by 4.5 million barrels in the u.s. and that was a 5th street klein
7:04 pm
ahead of the peak u.s. driving season. and of course, we are watching u.s. treasuries as well in light of what we have heard from fed chair powell and that gives us something of an assurance to broader markets, right? treasury yields really being seen at risk of more flattening as we see that reaction continuing to play out and we are not just hearing from jay powell but from neel kashkari seeing two rate cuts in 2024. potentially just one but take a listen to what we heard in that congressional testimony. >> we believe that our policy rate is likely at its peak for this cycle. if the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year. the committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target ranch until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably towards 2%.
7:05 pm
>> let's bring in the managing director of investment strategy, ocbc bank. perhaps nothing really new coming out of powell's testimony but at the same time, based on that plus the recent economic data we have had as well, do you still stick with the call that the fed is likely to cut interest rates from the midpoint of the year? >> we think so. we think if inflation comes down and if the fed does not do anything, disinflation will translate to significantly higher real rates which will hurt the u.s. economy and i think the fed knows that as well and is trying to engineer some kind of a soft landing. if it keeps rates too high, even though inflation is coming down, that will hurt the real economy and because a hard landing so we think the fed is holding its guns right now but i think it is in the last round of its fight against inflation and probably my -- by midyear, if they show a clear trajectory towards the 2%
7:06 pm
handle which is the fed's target, i think the fed will undertake the first rate cut and the next one probably in september and then they probably do nothing ahead of the presidential elections and do one last one in december. that is our view and that is exactly what the markets are expecting right now having their rate cut expectations. >> it has been quite a big repricing we have seen. at the beginning of this year, we had seven cuts that were being placed in bit as you say, the market is meeting with the fed is saying now with a number of cuts. do you think that that sets also for a period of relative calm in bond markets and how do you trade around that? >> i think we have to just look at reports this year. i think the message of the fed come if you look at its economic projections it released in december last year, you see that the fed is forecasting further rate cuts in 2025 and 2026 so
7:07 pm
2024 is a bit uncertain but the next two years, it is clear the fed will take its rates down and if the rates go down, we think that is going to be good news for bond markets. we are positive on investment rate bonds, especially ones with a longer duration but we also see opportunities in the high-yield space because we think defaults will kind of stabilize especially given what is happening in the economy right now so we see opportunities in the bond market but we also see opportunities in the equity markets as well. >> do you see opportunities in china? i know that broadly, you are neutral on the market. has any of the development changed that? >> it has not changed, -- it has not changed significantly. we are doing that because the chinese stock market valuations are extremely low right now, very low. expectations are very low. holdings in china, also very low, so quite a bit of negative
7:08 pm
pricing in the markets. there is more good news that will come out in the coming months. the npc was not sufficiently positive to cause the markets to rally. it was not a strong enough catalyst. the chinese government will do more because if you are holding onto the 5% growth target, it means to achieve it, you will see more stimulus from the chinese government and hopefully, that will change sentiment. >> i suppose what would be the catalyst when it comes to becoming more constructive on china, but in the meantime, do you continue to see outflows being redirected to markets like japan and india that have been kind of catching some of the interest diverted away from china? vasu: without a doubt. the two markets you mentioned are the ones seeing the benefits of outflows from china so the japanese stock market has and it's really well and so has indiana think that the other markets -- they have not done as well but they could play catch-up.
7:09 pm
especially once the fed starts coming rates and investors turn more risk-on and risk appetite improves. southeast asian markets. there is more room for upside in some of these markets. proxima talk a little bit more about japan because we have seen some of these young bats. one month high for the yen at the moment when it comes to bullish yen bets over the next month. the highest of the year on this chart we are going to bring up next. thus the bank of japan -- the implication on strengthening in the end, does that change your outlook for how much further this rally has to run for japan? >> we don't think a much stronger yen is going to curve it negatively. it may create volatility in the markets but the reason why the japanese stock market is doing well is because beyond just the yen, we have seen significant
7:10 pm
reforms take place in japan. japan is in a new chapter in its economic history and i think some of these changes will continue for the next three years to five years and it will spur interest in japanese stock markets. the japanese stock market is relatively on their own and it has only come to the forefront in the last four or five months so there is a lot more upset for the market, we think, but it will not be a straight line. the yen may strengthen but we have seen periods where a stronger yen is coexisting with a stronger stock market as well so it is not a game changer. you know, if the yen strengthens. >> and one of the really big moves we were tracking on wall street overnight was around new york community bancorp. a huge plunge. we saw it moving substantially higher off the back of that liquidity injection but what are your concerns around u.s. regional banks and tangent to that as well, any sort of concerns you have around
7:11 pm
commercial real estate in the u.s.? >> it is something we are keeping a close eye on. commercial real estate market in the u.s. showing signs of weakness but you know, in the regional banks, those are the ones most exposed to this segment of the u.s. property market so it is important to keep an eye on the regional banks. i mean, you know, that may not be the only one that will run into problems with the good news is that we have seen injection into the bank and that resulted in the bank share price posting again half a cent on closing on wall street after falling by 47% so i think as long as, you know, you have got support, capital infusion, and the federal reserve is prepared to stand behind some of these regional banks, we don't see the regional banks as, you know, a big risk going forward. >> right" we are approaching that anniversary somewhat of the regional banking crisis starting
7:12 pm
last year but thank you for your time this morning. that was the managing director at ocbc bank and let's take a quick look at some of the movers this morning because we are 10 minutes into the session so far for japan and korea. shares of asian energy producers , we are watching that down in australia but some of these names in focus. we saw will climb into near its highs for the year and it's actually after we had a u.s. report out on rising fuel demand and that certainly is playing into the dynamics because we saw wti nearing the $80 barrel per month and it had retreated from earlier this week and you have got it trading around $79 a barrel. let's change on because we are seeing those shares trade in positive territory but taking a look at what we are seeing for the footwear names as well, sportswear firms, we did see a big drop for footlocker on wall street overnight. actually, it was down nearly 30% so we did see a pretty bad forecast, weaker than expected
7:13 pm
forecast coming out as well as a push back on its growth plan that played into the numbers. today, a bit of reaction coming through but, haidi, it does seem like the theme of the session is that tone of positivity coming across equities. haidi: yes, and of course, whether or not that flows through to china will be another question. we will get some analysis, coming up next with the bank of china on way they see a challenging path ahead for beijing to reach the 5% growth target despite policymakers now coming out and defending that target, saying it is attainable. first, a look at geopolitics as well. the u.s. is said to be facing some resistance from allies as it urges an even tighter squeeze on chinese chip technology. we will have more on that exclusive, next. this is bloomberg. ♪
7:14 pm
okay y'all we got ten orders coming in... big orders! starting a business is never easy, but starting it eight months pregnant... that's a different story. i couldn't slow down. we were starting a business from the ground up. people were showing up left and right. and so did our business needs the chase ink card made it easy. when you go for something big like this, your kids see that. and they believe they can do the same. earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase with the chase ink business unlimited card. make more of what's yours. thanks to avalara, we can calculate sales tax automatically. avalarahhhhhh what if tax rates change? ahhhhhh filing sales tax returns? ahhhhhh business license guidance? ahhhhhh -cross-border sales? -ahhhhhh -item classification? -ahhhhhh does it connect with acc...?
7:15 pm
ahhhhhh ahhhhhh ahhhhhh
7:16 pm
7:17 pm
>> last year, we cut the reserve -- the required reserve ratio twice by 25 basis points each. last month, it was cut by another 50 basis points and that means we released one trillion yuan in long term liquidity at the time. at present, the statutory reserve ratio is 7% on average and there is still room for future cuts. >> the pboc governor sees a possibility of more rrr cuts for chinese banks and he, along with china's finance and commerce chiefs, have defended beijing's plan to grow the economy by 5% this year. our greater china senior investor -- executive joins us now. the defense of this target, of course, concerns about how they attain this without forceful stimulus measures. is this going to ring true with investors? >> well, i think investors are
7:18 pm
probably looking for more detail even yet. there was a lot of skepticism when the premier announce this 5% target earlier this week. this press conference, fairly unprecedented when you have the central bank governor, the commerce minister, the head of the securities, the head of the national planning agency all sitting together, talking about the economy. we have not seen that in over a decade. such a group of top officials, they were out to try and convince i think markets and the world of finance that there is going to be enough fiscal and monetary firepower to make sure that china gets to that 5% target. >> we have a ready -- we have had a really interesting story coming out at the top of the sour around china's property downturn and perhaps he could have some silver lining here because some economists are arguing that falling home prices could allow families to save less and spend more but a lack of confidence of growth holds
7:19 pm
back spending. still, are we starting to see any sort of positive notes come out of the weakness in the property sector? >> well, i think that is an interesting argument. i think ultimately, if home prices are cheaper, if people have to spend less of their disposable income on rents or mortgages, that does look good for consumption. the issue is how do we get from a period of relatively high home prices where we were for the last decade or so to a period of relatively low home prices without people really -- the effect of falling asset prices and and what it means for consumption habits in spending, that is the real question china is trying to grapple with at the moment. we have seen some positive signs coming out of the economy. the commerce minister yesterday mentioning that exports for the first two months of this year increased by 10% from one year earlier and we had exports being a relative drag on growth
7:20 pm
previously and that seems to be a good sign. there are some signs of warming in the property market in hong kong. we have seen a big uptick after the budget that was announced this week. a lot of hope on the mainland that that will bleed over as well. >> we have a story of next about how the u.s. is urging its allies to put the squeeze even further on china when it comes to chip knology and i do wonder qamar they focus more on putting out these domestic fires with the challenging macro environment at home or is there also this renewed focus on the geopolitical, you know, competitive rivalry given the dispense -- the defense spending, the r&d spending we have seen be announced? >> so i think the tensions that china has had with the united states is part and parcel -- it's at least one part of the reason why the economy has struggled. we have seen a big decline in fdi from abroad and we have seen companies trying to look for
7:21 pm
alternatives when it comes to supply chains. the limitations on chinese access to chip technology and other technologies, that is having a hit on a lot of chinese sectors, be it from computing to electric cars, so i think when it comes to foreign policy -- we will hear from the foreign ministry in the next hour or so. there is a lot of emphasis in chinese diplomacy on repairing relationships, strengthening relationships so that they can help the economy at home. >> that was our greater china senior executive editor there. the u.s. is said to be pressing allies to further tighten restrictions on china's access to semiconductor technology but sources tell bloomberg that the effort is drawing resistance in japan and the netherlands so for more, let's bring in our executive editor for asia technology, peter elstrom, to discuss this group we had at bloomberg. we have seen tokyo in the hague responding pretty poorly to this
7:22 pm
latest push. quite yes. that is right. so the u.s. has been trying for a couple of years to cut china off from some of the key semiconductor technology they would need for industries that u.s. things could be risky or damaging including military applications or ai in certain cases so what we have learned from sources is that the u.s. is again going to its allies. in this case, the netherlands, germany, south korea, and japan, and asking them to tighten even further what they are selling into china, specifically to the semiconductor sector. and you are exactly right. there has been some pushback about whether the allies are going to go along with this. the u.s. imposed its first controls in 2022 and it finally got allies on board including the netherlands and japan which are sort of key players in the chip equipment space this year, and the netherlands and japan in
7:23 pm
particular are saying that they want to give these new controls more time to take effect before they decide whether is going to be an additional tightening and this would affect some of the most valuable companies in the world including asml holding which makes the chipmaking equipment out of the netherlands that's really the most advanced in the world. >> peter, how does this narrative potentially change after the november election? peter: that's a very important question. of course, this effort is coming just as we are months away from the election just after we really have seen a decision about which candidates are going to be put forward for both the democrat and republican party with joe biden and donald trump. both parties -- one of the very few things both parties can agree on is they want to be tougher on china so i think these steps about restricting
7:24 pm
china's ability to get access to semiconductor technology is something supported by both parties but it is supported in different ways and to different degrees and also the cooperation with the allies is something that varies between the two parties so that biden administration has been reaching out to its allies to try to get support on these different fronts. the tension, as you can imagine is that if the united states goes to the netherlands and says we want them to do less business in china, that hurts one of the netherlands most valuable companies and there has been pushback in particular, saying they think it could be counterproductive to stop making equipment into china because it is going to force the chinese to accelerate their efforts to develop their own industry so it will be kind of -- there will be a backlash within china as the chinese companies invest more and more into their efforts to develop a domestic semiconductor industry and we have seen some
7:25 pm
real progress on that front. huawei technology, the big telecom giant, came out with a big smart phone that had a domestically made chip that was much more advanced than the u.s. was planning on allowing them to get from abroad and that was a sign that china is making pretty substantial progress in developing the domestic chip industry. >> peter elstrom, executive editor for it or technology. much more to come here. this is bloomberg. ♪ this is our future, ma. godaddy airo. creates a logo, website, even social posts... in minutes! -how? -a.i. (impressed) ay i like it! who wants to come see the future?! get your business online in minutes with godaddy airo
7:26 pm
7:27 pm
>> taking a look at one of the currencies we are watching this morning and that is most certainly the japanese yen here because we have had it strengthening to the greenback for the first time since february 12. a couple of different dynamics playing into that and you have the dollar weakness but you have also got yen strength and that
7:28 pm
is the speculation that is continuing to grow that the boj is nearing an exit from negative policy settings. we have wage gains at consensus, fastest pace since june and one of the things they will be watching quite closely. haidi. haidi: taking a look at how futures in europe are opening, we are seeing stoxx 50 futures looking softer. european stocks at a new -- at new record highs for caution creeping through ahead of what we heard from jay powell but potentially, we see futures may be trending a little bit higher throughout the course of the session. futures looking pretty flat at the moment and we had quite a bit of leadership from tech stocks, media, auto sectors, the biggest laggards. you can get more on tliv for all the analysis. this is bloomberg.
7:29 pm
her uncle's unhappy. i'm sensing an underlying issue. it's t-mobile. it started when we got him under a new plan. but then they unexpectedly unraveled their "price lock" guarantee. which has made him, a bit... unruly. you called yourself the "un-carrier". you sing about "price lock" on those commercials. "the price lock, the price lock..." so, if you could change the price, change the name! it's not a lock, i know a lock. so how can we undo the damage? we could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. their connection is unreal. and we could all un-experience this whole session. okay, that's uncalled for.
7:30 pm
>> we are getting breaking
7:31 pm
numbers out of australia at the moment when it comes to the trade balance and uncertainty to how australian assets are trading after exposure to china. with the trade surplus after $11 billion aussie slightly short of expectations and exports rising 1.6% month on month and imports rising 1.3% month on month. also other numbers when it comes to investor loan volumes, home on seeing declines, reflecting the slowdown across the property sector and construction. trade numbers, a bit of a decline when it comes to imports pulling back from the almost 5% in december and exports at 1.6%. largely the export future has
7:32 pm
been well supported for australia when it comes to iron ore and other measures -- metals. annabelle: china trade is due later and the strength signaled by chinese officials they had a rebound in the first months of the year but this is the outlook we see for the japanese yen, we are tracking closely so far. it is heading beyond the 149 mark for the first time since february 12 and the general return of boj trade playing into the yen, looking at dollar-yen one-month risk reversal rates in that signals it is bullish bets over the next month around the japanese yen. the positioning we are seeing for the boj to pivot away from negative rates playing out in
7:33 pm
jgb yields and banks outperforming the benchmark. that is the japanese yen. wages data strengthened, beating economist surveys. with broader markets we have the nikkei, kospi half an hour into trade and positivity. u.s. session, a relief rally given powell reiterated what we heard in the past. they are open to cutting rates later this year, not yet. the u.s. economy still looking fairly strong so that is the state of play for equities but the question is if china will join optimism later. haidi: we have had fair effort from economic officials defending the planned to grow the economy and the pboc governor hinting at a potential liquidity boost.
7:34 pm
our next guest says the target will be hard to hit without large-scale projects. the chief economist at hang seng bank, dan, great to have you with us. the skepticism, you are not alone in sharing that view. how concerned are you to be -- about the ability to meet the growth target? >> the domestic sentiment remained dire about economic outlook. investors and consumers are fragile in terms of investing consumption confidence and when we look at a plan from the two sessions they lack details but we can see the government intends to make more large-scale projects in the coming years. for domestic consumer market
7:35 pm
they used to be the main driver for china growth before because a now momentum is mutated -- muted. so this 5% is much different than last year's 5%. haidi: should the priorities beyond building confidence among households and consumers and how do you do that without a quick fix to the property market? direct payment, do you see that as an option? >> the main drive for china's economic recovery is housing. the liquidity is drying up. even property companies are showing weakness so the priority for the government is to stabilize the housing market price and that postpones the
7:36 pm
decision for many potential homebuyers because they do not see the end of the price decline . it is difficult to restore market confidence but the government is making clear signals from the report and we know where the money is going, it is going towards the low carbon, high-tech industries so for investors, at least a positive signal about where policy support will be. annabelle: can you elaborate on the positive signals? did anything else come out of the mpc that made you optimistic? >> for the overall economy we see there is more fiscal support from the central government. unsure long-term government bond targeting long-term infrastructure spending. for the local government it seems data remains high but it
7:37 pm
will be shifted towards the central government and for emerging industries they have unconditional support from the governments and banks and capital market so that is a positive sign to bolster some growth in the manufacturing industry in china but beyond that, to restore consumer confidence i would say it is a long-term plan. the government has to do more to make sure people higher income in the future. haidi: we have heard from economic officials around this and some have frank brown the -- front rhonda the economic data -- front run the economic data. what does that signal to you? >> the trade data i have no
7:38 pm
doubt it will improve. many projects have started and domestic market in the spring looks better than in the winter. so there is reason for optimism for domestic producers but we see a bigger trend. investing in domestic market is risky now for the next year or two. given how demanding the former buyers are to require domestic producers to relegate production lines overseas, we will see more incentive for chinese companies to go global rather than investing more at home. mpc also had talks of supporting the chinese government abroad and finding new markets and there is also talk about making high quality trade pattern so
7:39 pm
all those together we can see at least for the high quality growth model, as they call it, china is still transitioning and we are at the start of it. haidi: the demographic challenges are building. you cannot just tell people to cheer up and spend more, particularly when longer-term issues are consolidated. are you disappointed more was not said about efforts to address the demographic shift? we do not hear much about domestic immigration related reforms. >> is still going on and i believe that will be more talks in the coming days but beyond if you are not trying to buy a home in china's biggest cities, restrictions are basically gone. people have the freedom to move to second or third tier cities
7:40 pm
or counties without problem. the main problems is before chinese government has been stressing more balanced model for regions in china but given that the remote areas in central western china especially lack of momentum to find new growth engines so more resources in the future will be actually moved to the greater bay area and the river delta where manufacturing is advanced and high quality services are dominant. so that means we will see more capital and population inflow to those regions but other regions will lose population and lose money. annabelle: dan wong, chief economist at hang seng china. coming up, we will look at each term -- e-commerce china, jd.com
7:41 pm
approving a $3 billion buyback after beating estimates. this is bloomberg. ♪ j.p. morgan wealth management knows it's easy to get lost in investment research. get help with j.p morgan personal advisors. hey, david! ready to get started? work with advisors who create a plan with you, and help you find the right investments. so great getting to know you, let's take a look at your new investment plan. ok, great! this should have you moving in the right direction. thanks jen. get ongoing advice; and manage your investments in the chase mobile app. when you automate sales tax with avalara, you don't have to worry about things like changing tax rates or filing returns. avalarahhh ahhh
7:42 pm
>> we believe our policy rate is likely at its peak for the tightening cycle. we want to see more data so we can be confident and take the
7:43 pm
step of beginning to reduce policy rates. community does not expect it would be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has confidence inflation is moving sustainably towards 2%. when we reach that confidence, as we expect to do this year, we can begin to dial back restriction on policy. if the economy evolves broadly as expected it will be appropriate to start dialing back policy restraint at some point this year. haidi: powell during his house testimony. more movement across the fx front. we were range bound given limited trading we are seeing in the u.s. dollar but some moves driven by powell's testimony and boj expectations giving a lift to the yen being lifted to the one month high and bullish bolts -- bullish bets when it comes to yen expectation strengthening
7:44 pm
149 just over 149 what we see in before the dollar yen trade at the moment on the aussie dollar seeing more momentum, well supported by higher metal prices and crude prices close to the highs of the year this so far on the shrinking stockpile situation. some risks hitting the aussie yet to be really seen in that trade yet potentially coming from the economic slowdown situation in china and how policy might fail to support that kiwi trading lower dell. annabelle: jd.com has approved a $3 billion stop buyback program after fourth-quarter revenue beat estimates, surging as much as 18% on the news.
7:45 pm
let's bring in catherine lynn. we know jd.com has had to call from the top two feet deep seeded issues in the company. what has stood out to you from the numbers? >> right. it is the worst performing e-commerce company from china this year and i think what came through overnight from the results was a relief that the company is not burning all its cash as it faced competition from alibaba and pdd. it's a reiteration of a new 3 billion dollars share buyback and extension from the previous program and more importantly, the 22% dividend hike. so that company is redistributing cash even as it faces competition from rivals.
7:46 pm
haidi: what does this tell us about the broad strength of the consumer in china, in being able to meet the 5% target this year? >> some indications coming through from the company overnight is that they are still going with low price strategy and there is more discerning spending among consumers in china so we will see low price competition still come through from jd.com, pdd, and alibaba and we will go with the volumes gains and hopefully the companies will be able to drive
7:47 pm
some consumptions with affordable products and campaigns which i think will be part of what the government is trying to support in the next nine months. haidi: other corporate stories we are following, shares of bancorp closed higher after we revealed the lender is getting equity investment. the injunction was led by liberty strategic capital, company of steve mnuchin. he will join the board. u.s. crash investigators have accused boeing of failing to cooperate into an inquiry about a mid air blowout. the ntsb chair says it is absurd boeing has not provided all the information sought by investigators.
7:48 pm
boeing says it is doing everything it can to assist the inquiry into the alaska airlines incident. we have learned paramount global is in talks to sell stakes in an indian joint venture. sources say stocks and viacom are ongoing and might not result in a deal. a sale could raise as much as $550 million. annabelle: popular weight loss and diabetes drugs are getting caught up in a bid by u.s. lawmakers to reduce the country's reliance on chinese biotech companies. there is an act under discussion in the u.s. congress. the senate met overnight on it. what was the result of the meeting and what is the significance of that bill to the chinese biotech industry? >> there were a lot of positive
7:49 pm
scenarios to the senate meeting overnight and in the past many said that will be scrapping the bill and many scenarios were laid out but it advanced to the next step, it has to pass through the senate and house and then be signed by president biden to be made into law. but it is closer to that. the significance of the bill is that it would broaden chinese biotech companies to contact with the u.s. government but the extent of the project could very and it could spill over into private companies, and that is the worry. they are seeing already some impact in share prices when we
7:50 pm
look at the main company of concern listed in the bill. there share price has fallen 40% year to date. we are watching others share moves when the market opens in hong kong. haidi: tell us about the company in the crosshairs. how does it fit in the global pharmaceutical world? >> it is based in china and does extensive r&d so contract manufacturing for a lot of the pharmaceuticals around the world so it is said it does business with at least 20 of the largest pharmaceutical companies around the world, names we already know. it produces most of the popular weight loss drugs by eli lilly.
7:51 pm
that means the supply chain is already pretty tight and so a shortage would be intensified if the bill passes and so u.s. crackdown on chinese biotech could potentially mean supply chain disruptions for global pharmaceuticals and especially weight loss drugs and also advanced cancer treatment drugs, sorry to say. so we are watching the three hong kong listed [indiscernible] has tumbled 12% overnight so we will be watching some impact on the chinese biotech when the market opens. haidi: more coming up on daybreak asia. this is bloomberg. ♪
7:52 pm
7:53 pm
haidi: china's economic financial officials have defended the growth target and regulators promise to crackdown on market manipulation. we have seen the pboc come out
7:54 pm
to try and reassure but also saying the 5% is attainable. will investors be convinced? >> they are taking a tet offensive node -- taking a defensive tone for a reason. morgan stanley just released a note overnight talking about how everything the pboc said at the presser was good, positive messaging, that's great, but big fiscal packages need to get china at of current cycle it is in and even as we look ahead to the trade data coming out later today, not a lot of expectations for exports to help growth so china really needs to up their game in terms of fiscal action
7:55 pm
that investors are hoping for but cautious that will come because of all the narrative in china right now. annabelle: jefferies says they could start to slow their stock purchases. how will that likely play out in sentiment? >> jeffries saw the 3000 for the shanghai composite is the level where their team steps back on purchases, they were tracking data and they saw around january 16 when we had quantified selling and they jut out in small caps that's when the national team came in to support the large caps at that point some of the market, then they stepped back and then came back in february 23 when they needed to prop up the market again so jeffries thinks now that the
7:56 pm
shanghai composite is above the 3000 level the national team will slow down on purchases. the other thing to look at is short sales. bloomberg intelligence reports that while the government has been clamping down on shortselling, total short interest is that 43 billion yuan and that is considerably higher than the 10 billion they are before 2020 so there is still a ways to go in terms of reducing short sale pressure on the market right now. csi 300 is doing quite well but that is what investors are watching right now. annabelle: that was our asia stocks reporter joining us as we look ahead toning trade in china.
7:57 pm
7:58 pm
when i was your age, we never had anything like this. what? wifi? wifi that works all over the house, even the basement. the basement. so i can finally throw that party... and invite shannon barnes. dream do come true. xfinity gives you reliable wifi with wall-to-wall coverage on all your devices, even when everyone is online. maybe we'll even get married one day. i wonder what i will be doing? probably still living here with mom and dad. fast reliable speeds right where you need them. that's wall-to-wall wifi on the xfinity 10g network.
7:59 pm
8:00 pm
it's waiting for you. mere minutes away. the future is nothing but power and it's all yours. the all new godaddy airo. get your business online in minutes with the power of ai. >> we are a half an hour away

49 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on