south korea and will hold talks in the coming hours. on friday, police attempted to arrest suspended president yoon suk yeol on charges of inciting an insurrection, but presidential security forces intervened, preventing the arrest, while hundreds of his supporters gathered outside his compound. the tense political situation has now stretched on for over a month, raising questions about its impact on the economy. it is exacerbating economic headwinds in south korea. recent data ahead of the turmoil was showing signs of weakening, when you look at manufacturing, construction, services activity, had slowed in november and if we look at more high—frequency indicators since the political turmoil started in december, it looks like we will get further weakness in domestic demand, consumer and business sentiment have been shaken, now at levels not seen since the pandemic, credit card spending on discretionary categories like recreation, accommodation, services have fallen as well

and inaudible has weakened pushing up inflation. domestic fuel prices have increased and that will weigh on the purchasing power of households. things are not looking particularly good. donald trump will take office this month with the threat of imposing tariffs looming. is with the threat of imposing tariffs looming.— tariffs looming. is that a concern? _ tariffs looming. is that a concern? of _ tariffs looming. is that a concern? of course. - tariffs looming. is that a concern? of course. it i tariffs looming. is that a i concern? of course. it is likely to get more fraud, trade tensions are rising and that will be inaudible for a country like korea. so far the plan seem to be focused on china, mexico and canada but there will be negative spillover effects in south korea given the global supply chains and if the global supply chains and if the president—elect�*s campaign threat of universal tariffs materialised and south korea does not get exemptions, the hit will be greater, suffer contact the us accounted for

almost 20% of south korea's exports last year. it almost 20% of south korea's exports last year.— exports last year. it paints a pessimistic _ exports last year. it paints a pessimistic picture - exports last year. it paints a pessimistic picture for - exports last year. it paints a i pessimistic picture for south korea in 2025. is there room for optimism?— for optimism? it is too premature _ for optimism? it is too premature to - for optimism? it is too premature to conclude for optimism? it is too - premature to conclude the recent political turmoil has fundamentally weakened the economy. i think there is still comfort in that institutions are still intact, legal processes are still being followed and government functions such as defence and finance are still operating smoothly. ultimately, it is the key to a sustained recovery — political normalisation — but in the interim we need to see policy actions that help mitigate the downside risks. the new year raises a question for the major economies of the world.

will they see strong growth in 2025? china and germany stumbled last year and it's unclear whether they have tackled their underlying issues. meanwhile, the us saw strong growth, but donald trump's return, and his tariff—centred, could have widespread effects. for a deeper look at what lies ahead, our reporters from new york, berlin, and beijing filed this report. wall street may not believe in santa claus any more but they are grateful for one older gentleman. donald trump may not be in office but he is promising large gifts to the markets and the economy. he says he will support the crypto industry, pointing friendly regulators. he says he can cut prices for consumers, although it is not clear how and he also claims he will cut regulations. this promise of even better times ahead as help drive us markets higher at the end of 2024. but markets higher at the end of 202a. but some of his other plans pose serious risks. if donald trump comes into office injanuary and imposes huge tariffs on imports to the us,

economies everywhere will face a big disruption and wall street might find a lump of coalin street might find a lump of coal in its stocking. traditionally the german economy is seen as the powerhouse of europe. it is after all the largest economy in europe but increasingly, it is the economic lagarde. we haven't seen any economic growth for years and 2025 looks set to be another year of stagnation. that is mainly because of competition from china but also a lack of global demand, both globally, but also in europe and at home and what is adding to the problem is political uncertainty. the governing coalition here collapsed in november after months of political strife and arguments and there are slight elections in february. —— snap. what will the government do to get the economy going? we're not talking about full blown recession butjobless figures

are rising and there are questions about whether germany's export driven industrial model is still working for the whole country. economically going into 2025 china's problems remain. local government debt, real estate crisis which has seen families lose their entire life savings because of undelivered property and persistent youth unemployment. with the latter, you might think what about the emerging tech sector? isn't that a bright spot? count people go there looking for work? tech sector appears to have a bright future but it is not as labour—intensive. we are talking cutting—edge robotics, not crowded production lines. the government needs new sectors to emerge and to drive this it needs an increase in domestic demand. but the more pessimistic chinese people are about their economy, the more

likely these already conservative consumers our to save more rather than spend more. turning this sentiment around will be very tough indeed. for more on what investors can expect from the major economies in 2025, i'm joined by hsbc�*s chief investment officer for southeast asia and india, james cheo. i think at this stage it is hard to predict whether it is the scale, the timing and reaction functions of countries. early days but of course it is a headwind overhanging the region, so i think something to watch out for at inaudible from being able to deregulate industries and may benefit the region. we saw michelle fleury talk about those things and the us saw strong growth in 202a. do

expect that will continue into 2025? ., , ., expect that will continue into 2025? ., ,., ., ~ expect that will continue into 2025? ., ., ~ , 2025? the labour market is stron: 2025? the labour market is strong and _ 2025? the labour market is strong and you _ 2025? the labour market is strong and you have - 2025? the labour market is strong and you have that i 2025? the labour market is - strong and you have that whole ai attack cycle that is bolstering the economy and are you at the possible policies from donald trump that is very much making... us exceptionalism continue on, tax cuts, fiscal spending or deregulation so i think the use outlook is likely to be quite robust in 2025, particular equities. what is your outlook for asia? a nuanced approach. i would say perhaps you have to look at... i think in china, we are neutral because there is outside and downside risk but i think in india and the aussie and region, the outlook is bright because the us is easily going to grow by 6.5 or even higher in terms of growth, so a

very strong middle class domestic consumption. —— asean. exports, particularly digital, are quite resilient and insulated from the whole headwinds associated with trade. ., ., ., trade. you said neutral on china. trade. you said neutral on china- can _ trade. you said neutral on china. can you _ trade. you said neutral on china. can you help - trade. you said neutral on china. can you help us- china. can you help us understand the situation it finds itself in going into 2025? ., ., , , , 2025? for china the issue is about disinflation, - 2025? for china the issue is about disinflation, the - about disinflation, the property market, so fairly weak and if you add the risk of tariffs that could provide additional headwinds. a lot depends on what policymakers do. they are easing policy and i think a lot of attention will be on whether they embark on more fiscal polities of support, grow directly for chinese consumers, so you want consumers to start spending again, so that is really the crux of the issue. we're tracking developments around the nippon—us steel

takeover that presidentjoe biden officially blocked last friday. shares of nippon steel are down in tokyo today, after nippon television reported that the company's president, tadashi imai, was considering filing a lawsuit against the us government. according to the report, imai also said his company is entitled to a proper review of washington's decision to block the deal. nippon steel is planning to hold a press conference on the matter, but a date has yet to be set. we will be keeping an eye on that one as the trump administration is set to take office in a couple of weeks. microsoft is gearing up to spend $80 billion on the construction of artificial intelligence data centres. in a blog post the company president said over half of that investment will take place in the united states and is expected to be completed this fiscal year. smith also called on president elect donald trump and congress to expand support for al innovation with moves such as increased funding for

research at universities. and that's it for this edition of business today. thanks for watching. i will see you soon.

hello and welcome to sportsday with me chetan pathak. coming up on the programme: not many gave manchester united a chance at anfield, but amad is on hand to hold top—of—the—table liverpool to a 2—2 draw in the premier league. the most followed rugby union player in the world on social media. we speak to american superstar ilona maher as she makes her women's premiership debut for bristol bears. and coco gauff and taylor fritz help the united states to victory over poland in the united cup final in sydney.

welcome along. thank you for being with us. despite overnight snow, both of sunday's premier league games went ahead, including at craven cottage, where fulham drew 2—2 with ipswich, and at anfield, where manchester united put in an improved performance to draw 2—2 with the league leaders liverpool. ruben amorim's side went into the game having lost their last four in all competitions, but were the first to score through lisandro martinez early in the second half. mohammed salah's penalty saw liverpool turn the game around, 2—i they led with 20 minutes to go, only for amad diallo to snatch an equaliser ten minutes later. top—of—the—table liverpool are six points clear of arsenal with a game in hand. united are 13th. i think it is