the s&p 500 reaches a record high after trump calls for cuts in interest rates and oil prices. thailand set for a pink tourism boom after legalising same—sex marriage. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. us stocks closed at all—time highs on thursday following comments from president donald trump at the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. the president urged opec to lower crude prices and said he will push for interest—rate cuts. let's get to new york and our north american business correspondent, ritika gupta. the benchmark s&p 500 closed at a record high on thursday,

topping the 6100 milestone, this as investors digested comments from president donald trump including a call for cuts in interest rates and oil prices and assess a mixed bag of corporate earnings. at the world economic in davos, switzerland, trump demanded opec lower and increase interest rates. crude oil fell. trump warned business leaders they would face tariffs or products made outside of the us. while investors have been cautiously monitoring the new present was make comments about tariffs, stocks may have got a boost from the idea of interest rates and oil prices coming down. textures, which weighed heavily on the market throughout most of the session, rebounded in the final stretch of wall street trading. this as trump said he signed executive actions related to ain and cryptocurrencies. staying in the us, and during his first week in office us president donald trump renewed his tariff threats once again.

he said china could expect a 10% levy on their goods as early as the beginning of february and the same goes for canada and mexico, who he threatened with a 25% duty. and trump didn't stop there. he's also promised to go after the european union as well for what he calls unfair trading practices. deborah elms is the head of trade policy at the hinrich foundation. she gave her view on whether trump would follow through on his threat of tariffs. ,, . tariffs. still a little unclear, _ tariffs. still a little unclear, but - tariffs. still a little unclear, but we i tariffs. still a little - unclear, but we shouldn't assume this is just a negotiating ploy anymore. it is very serious —— serious about his love of tariffs and his desire to implement them. how do ou desire to implement them. how do you think _ desire to implement them. how do you think china, _ desire to implement them. how do you think china, for- desire to implement them. how do you think china, for one, will respond? i do you think china, for one, will respond?— will respond? i think the chinese _ will respond? i think the chinese might _ will respond? i think the chinese might be - will respond? i think the chinese might be a - will respond? i think the chinese might be a bit i will respond? i think the - chinese might be a bit muted at the first instance, especially if the tariffs that are applied against china remain at about 10%, if they go higher than that i think china will say there is no point in us even pausing on any potential retaliation, let's do something and do it now.— retaliation, let's do something and do it now. china is seen by the us as _

and do it now. china is seen by the us as it — and do it now. china is seen by the us as it adversary, - and do it now. china is seen by the us as it adversary, but - and do it now. china is seen by the us as it adversary, but as i the us as it adversary, but as partners are neighbours like mexico and canada are also in the firing line here, how will they be seeing these tariffs unfolding before them with what trump has said he wants to implement? i trump has said he wants to implement?— trump has said he wants to implement? i think canada in particular— implement? i think canada in particular is _ implement? i think canada in particular is feeling _ implement? i think canada in particular is feeling a - implement? i think canada in particular is feeling a bit - particular is feeling a bit annoyed, because they are being accused of allowing too much immigration and too much fentanyl, another one of which seems to be an issue for canada in particular. so here you have been a long—standing best friend of the united states, deeply integrated 3—way markers, now you're going to be had with a 25% tariff, first, actually, and that feels i think deeply alarming and unsettling for canada, of course for mexico, other allies of the united states. so if you're heading adversaries and allies, what does that mean? the date of 1 allies, what does that mean? the date of1 february is the one that has been mooted by donald trump himself. it doesn't leave a lot of room or time for any form of negotiation.- time for any form of negotiation. time for any form of neuotiation. ., ~ , , ., negotiation. no. any question ou negotiation. no. any question you always — negotiation. no. any question you always have _ negotiation. no. any question you always have a _ negotiation. no. any question you always have a trump - negotiation. no. any question you always have a trump is i negotiation. no. any question you always have a trump is if| you always have a trump is if they offer him something is he going to pocket that and still

do what he intended to do? will he pocket that an ask for more? if he asks for more can we give you more? so you are constantly worried about an over escalation that leads you to be far worse off in the end than if you had simply done whatever he was planning to do and impose your own retaliatory measures. impose your own retaliatory measures-— impose your own retaliatory measures. how do you think countries — measures. how do you think countries were _ measures. how do you think countries were thinking - measures. how do you thinkl countries were thinking about how to deal with president trump than, this is his second term in office, we somewhat know what we're dealing with, don't we? irate know what we're dealing with, don't we?— don't we? we do... except at this time _ don't we? we do... except at this time around _ don't we? we do... except at this time around is _ don't we? we do... except at this time around is still- don't we? we do... except at this time around is still very i this time around is still very different. i think the circumstances are quite different, especially eye would argue the global system is much weaker than it was. we have fewer global leaders that can really pull things together, stand up to him. that is a very different world.— different world. how do you think this — different world. how do you think this will _ different world. how do you think this will play - different world. how do you think this will play out? - different world. how do you think this will play out? i i think this will play out? i think this will play out? i think we will end up with a reaction, retaliation, new consequences, it willjust be chaos for, i don't know how long. it will file forever.

staying with donald trump. he has signed executive order to grant a new working group aimed at shaping white house regulation around cryptocurrency. the group will be led by former paypal executive david sacks and will also include the us treasury secretary. the new group will also be tasked with exploring potential for a also be tasked with exploring potentialfor a national digital potential for a national digital asset stockpile. japan's central bank is announcing its latest interest rates decision in a few hours. unlike other major economies, the cost of borrowing there has remained low as the country only started to experience inflation in recent years. injuly last year when the bank ofjapan raised rates, it prompted a market sell—off — so investors will be watching today's decision closely. mariko oi explains why. this chart shows the history of the cost of borrowing injapan. and for the past 25 years has been pretty flat. it was in 1999 when the bank ofjapan became the first central bank in the world to cut interest

rates to zero. it was a bold move at the time. the country was experiencing falling prices, also known as deflation, and lower rates were meant to encourage spending and investment — at least in theory. but consumers won't buying it. that's because the value of their properties and other assets were falling, so people didn't feel confident to spend money and its load an entire country's economic growth. then, in 2016, the bank ofjapan went further, taking of japan went further, taking the ofjapan went further, taking the extraordinary of japan went further, taking the extraordinary step ofjapan went further, taking the extraordinary step of cutting rates to below zero. negative interest rates meant that the b0] was, in some ways, paying borrowers to, well, borrow money, and they stayed there for over eight years, hoping that prices would start to rise. inflation finally arrived several years ago, but it was mainly due to higher food and fuel prices caused by the war in ukraine. in march last year the central bank moved rates to a range of zero

to 0.1%, a tiny rise but a seismic shift in policy. the boj finally exited its negative interest—rate policy. a few months later the bank ofjapan raise rates again, this time to around zero 25%, showing their confidence in the country's economic recovery and that inflation is finally back. but that triggered a market sell—off because investors worried that they may raise rates to fast and also because of a complex impact on the value of the japanese currency. officials have been cautious ever since, officials have been cautious eversince, but officials have been cautious ever since, but some economists think they may raise rates later today. staying with japan and the country's or inflation rate has climbed to a 16 month high, listing expectations for a rate hike by the country's central bank. consumer prices rose 3% from a year earlier in december, largely due to higher

energy costs. as the first eye or inflation has it 3% since august of 2023. thailand became the first country in southeast asia to legalise same—sex marriage on thursday, with hundreds of couples registering their unions. the new laws could also see a boom for thailand's tourism, with the hospitality sector set to see big gains — according to industry experts. one of them is timothy hughes who is a vice president of corporate development at agoda. explains how the new law could boost thailand's economy. this is a great _ boost thailand's economy. this is a great story _ boost thailand's economy. this is a great story of— boost thailand's economy. t'i 3 is a great story of the coming together of love, and economic opportunity. it is rare we get a c3 together. as you say, yesterday the law came into force, doubles are our marriage, couples are now waking up in thailand with theirfirst morning waking up in thailand with their first morning together lee desmond green acquired under legal monies. what is important about that for the community of thailand is the marriage, but for the economy of thailand we have done modelling that could suggest

within two years ago bring another 4 million visitors to the market, spending $2 billion in travel spend, which could amount to another 0.3% lived in the gdp of thailand, so prove that while love is love, money is also money, there is a great opportunity here in getting the pingelly into thailand for you are saying these are the people that believe in or support what is happening in thailand that would open the doors they wanted to go to thailand, is that we were saying? if you think of a five hour flying circle around thailand, that encompasses frequent 6 billion people who do not have access to marriage equality. thailand has been doing a lot of work to encourage tourism, a lot of infrastructure, relaxation and visa laws to attract those people, now the lgbtq parts of that community and their families have another reason to come to thailand. and we look at experiences, look at what happened in the new zealand market, the australian market, the us, canadian, and europe, and what they drove when they legalise same—sex marriage, we have a play is a model to

thailand, could be attempts at uplift, could be 4 million more people coming to thailand. that would be quite _ people coming to thailand. that would be quite remarkable. as an conversely also true that perhaps a good turn of more conservative travellers? we have seen _ conservative travellers? we have seen no _ conservative travellers? - have seen no evidence in the past history, in the other market, australia, us, canada, europe, none or negative backlash, all they saw was pink upside. backlash, all they saw was pink u side. �* . backlash, all they saw was pink uside. . . , ., upside. and which parts of the tourism sector _ upside. and which parts of the tourism sector do _ upside. and which parts of the tourism sector do you - upside. and which parts of the tourism sector do you think. tourism sector do you think will benefit the most? that amount of— will benefit the most? that amount of money, - will benefit the most? that amount of money, the - will benefit the most? trust amount of money, the modelling we have suggest the hotel industry is the largest slice at 700 million, but it is spread across the entire sector because that is our travel works. there is retail, probably 400 million, food and beverage, 400 million, transport, doers, activities, also employment. modelling suggests there will be 76,000 directjobs in the industry itself, with a follow—on for the same number in the other parts of the 1531 00:10:52,649 -->