as us voters head to the polls on tuesday, we take a look at how economies and businesses in asia are preparing. plus, it's a big week for china, as top lawmakers gear up to sign off on stimulus measures for the world's number—two economy. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. the countdown is nearly over, with americans heading to the ballot box on tuesday to cast their vote for the next president. many polls have shown it to be a tight race between the two candidates — former president donald trump for the republican party, and vice president kamala harris for the democratic party. constance hunter, chief economist at economist intelligence unit, explained how the outcome of the vote could impact relations with china. a trump victory, combined with enough congressional

votes, would give him more power to change the way that the us deals with asia. namely, tariffs on china, but tariffs also across the world. a harris victory would be much more a continuation of what we have seen, with greater engagement with asia. a number of american businesses operate in china. or are looking to invest in china. will the outcome of the election be playing on their minds as well? i would imagine, but i also think a lot of that has to do with the way china treats foreign investors. i think that's certainly a much biggerfactor. and let's not forget these polls are extremely close. and there are a lot of data

points which suggest they're not polling necessarily all of the voters that are going to matter. so female turnout is much more important in this election because healthcare rights are on the ballot for women. and what you're seeing is a real surge in voting of women. more than past elections, and in greater numbers than male voters. so i think there could be some votes in harris�*s favourite when we get to telling of the votes on election night and the days after. shares of donald trump's social media company is a 12% on the after plunging 40% in the last three trading extensions. the stock has been highly volatile as traders have used it as a kind of parameter for as traders have used it as a kind of parameterfor his perceived re—election chances. shares of truth social�*s parent company have been highly

volatile in recent weeks — with trading often viewed as a proxy for donald trump's potential electoral success — and they remained so on monday, closing above 12% to reverse pre—market losses. despite the surge on monday, trump media & technology group suffered its largest—percentage decline last week, but the stock is still up more than 100% over the last month. some analysts explain the recent plunge as a reaction to the latest polls showing kamala harris gaining ground, resulting in a fade of the so—called trump trade, where markets had been betting on a donald trump victory. others attribute it to short sellers, who profit by driving stock prices lower, and target overvalued companies. either way, the volatility indicates that the company's main assets are trump and his political prospects, with trading detached from its day—to—day business fundamentals. and the whipsaws could continue with the stock majority owned by donald trump at risk of high volatility post—election.

ajudge in a judge in pennsylvania ajudge in pennsylvania has allowed elon musk to continue his daily1 million giveaway thread no voters to register in battleground states. it was like at this game is an illegal lottery and attempt to influence voters. the judge gave no reason for his decision not to ban it. elon musk�*s fro trump action committee says it has given away 16 $1 million prizes, four in pennsylvania. meta has extended its ban on political ads on facebook and instagram past november 5th in the us. the company did not specify when the restriction will be lifted, saying only that the ban will continue until "later this week". google parent alphabet announced a similar ad policy update last month, saying it would pause ads relating to us elections from running in the us after polls. you can watch live coverage of the election results here on bbc news — and on bbc one and the iplayer in the uk at 22:40 gmt on tuesday. caitriona perry and sumi somaskanda will bring you a special programme from washington dc.

china is hosting its annual international import expo, where global business and political leaders are gathered in shanghai. premier li qiang delivered an opening speech, where he said unilateralism and protectionism is on the rise, and that china must guard against this by opening up its economy further. he also said he's confident the country will hit its growth target for the year. this comes as chinese lawmakers hold their five—day meeting of the standing committee of the national people's congress — where stimulus measures are set to be announced. this year, the meeting coincides with the us presidential election. and some analysts believe the size of the measures to be announced might depend on the result of the election. economist alicia garcia—herrero gave her view on that school of thought. one could argue that this is the case, given the choice of dates. there's another possibility, and this is even more interesting. it's basically that,

and so far, this is what's happening, if you look at what is basically being funnelled away from that mpc. what we know is being discussed at the moment is all about the debt swap. it's not a stimulus package. so the question is, will china perhaps hide behind the us elections to announce mostly a clean—up of its economy, rather than a big stimulus? and therefore, choose those dates in a way that is not really too negative for the market? that is a possibility as well. because so far, that's all we hear. that swap. from local government financial vehicles, which is hidden debt in china, to either local governments or even the central government. so it's basically cleaning up china's hidden debt, which is going to happen. but the stimulus, we don't know yet. how different will those measures be, or how it treats debt, depending on how the us us election goes?

the debt part has to be done for a number of reasons. first, its financial stability problems, there could be defaults on the local governments. so china has to do that independently of the us elections. however, this is not good news for the market. why? because the market is expecting a growth—enhancing stimulus, meaning consumption—driven. cleaning up debt will not create any growth. it is very necessary, but it's not growth—enhancing. so i would say this is something china had to do anyway, and this is a good opportunity because the market is not watching. will trump win the elections, i do think they will announce more thanjust cleaning up debt. they will probably come up with some measures to show the market that china can withstand high tariffs, import tariffs from trump. meanwhile, corporate india has seen a dismal quarter for earnings between july and september. the poor show across sectors is adding pressure on the equity markets and even forcing earnings downgrades by several brokerages. the bbc�*s archana shukla

is here to explain what this means for the broader economy. go to, tell us more. while, it's a weakness _ go to, tell us more. while, it's a weakness in - go to, tell us more. while, it's a weakness in the - go to, tell us more. while, i it's a weakness in the broader economy that is now starting to reflect on corporate india's earnings. so whether it was heavy rains that destroyed crop production and sales of consumer companies or it was a weaker spending by government and infrastructure, that kind of effected companies in the infrastructure space, whether it was steel, cement manufacturing, ora it was steel, cement manufacturing, or a lower urban septic consumption that affected sales for the aviation companies, let's say. most stock companies that are on the base might have seen a drag on their earnings. these lower earnings are something analysts expect to continue in the coming quarter and that is why companies have seen some of the largest downgrades in this

quarter by brokerage. jefferies reported last week that 60% of the near 100 companies that are dragged have seen major earnings downgrades for the next quarter and that is also becoming a drag on the stocks of these companies that are down from five to 18% after reporting their quarter two numbers after the equity markets in india by seeing a persistent rally.— persistent rally. archana, thanks for _ persistent rally. archana, thanks for getting - persistent rally. archana, thanks for getting us - persistent rally. archana, thanks for getting us up | persistent rally. archana, | thanks for getting us up to speed with that. archana shukla in mumbai. we are going to pennsylvania where kamala harris, the vice president, is making herfinal rally speech. let's listen. it has been driven by fear and division. we are done with that. we are done! we are exhausted with it! cheering america is ready for a fresh start. ready for a new way forward, where we see our fellow american not as an enemy

but as a neighbour. and we are ready for a president who knows that the true measure of a leader is not based on who you beat down, but based on who you lift up. cheering and, pennsylvania, you know me, i'm not afraid of tough fights. for decades as a prosecutor in the —— on the top law enforcement office in this country i won fights against the big banks when they ripped off homeowners... the big banks when they ripped off homeowners. . ._ the big banks when they ripped off homeowners... kamala harris s-ueakin off homeowners... kamala harris speaking in _ off homeowners... kamala harris speaking in pennsylvania. - off homeowners... kamala harris speaking in pennsylvania. in - speaking in pennsylvania. in philadelphia, the vital swing state. you can also see a rally taking base in grand rapids, michigan, donald trump expected to take the stage there. the time locally is about 11110 pm, getting close to midnight. the two candidate is looking to make their case right up to the end of the campaigning period.

the elections are expected to openin the elections are expected to open in vermont first in about five hours. we will have plenty of coverage for you throughout the next day is ahead on the us election. thank you forjoining me, goodbye for now.

hey, it's lucy with the catch up. tonight... four attacks on women in a week in londonderry. who's going to be the new president? and a new local celebrity. first tonight, they've been frozen for eight years, but next year, uni fees are going up. the government says universities are really struggling with money. if you study in england, fees will rise next year from £9,250 a year to just over £9,500. if you live and study in wales, northern ireland or scotland, fees won't change for now, because uni fees are devolved. that means each nation's

government decides what students should pay. kamala harris and donald trump have been campaigning, in a final push for the white house. these are the seven swing states. they could each be won by either democrats or republicans. michigan's one of them. jordan's there. one of the big issues young people here tell us they're thinking about when deciding who to vote for is the war in the middle east, saying they want to know how the next president is going to end that. other big issues for young people across the states include the cost of living, abortion rights and gun laws. we'll have live coverage from tomorrow night on the bbc news app and iplayer. police are stepping up patrols in londonderry, after four attacks on women there within one week. there have been big concerns recently about violence against women in northern ireland, so police in derry say... we have high—visibility patrols in and around key focused areas, and that will continue over the coming days.

but let's leave you with ten seconds of good company. beau, the 13—year—old cat, has become famous for keeping bus passengers company in leicestershire, but he's now been put on a diet because he's getting too much attention. that's us for tonight. have a good one!

hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm tanya arnold. real madrid's carlo ancelotti says no football matches should have been played at the weekend, in the wake of the devastating flooding in the valencia region. manchester is watching — united's new manager takes charge of his penultimate sporting game against city. and former racing driver billy monger tells us how the stars aligned for him to break the ironman record for a double amputee at the world championships.