>> safe havens. i am angie lau. also coming up, two wheels, good, four wheels, better. yamaha wants to make cars. protesters are shutting down early voting in thailand. we will have the latest and look at the wider implications. aboutis growing optimism the global recovery, but jean-claude trish a warns of working problems. all that and more in this monday edition of "asia edge." >> we are keeping a close watch on markets today. the selloff is happening across the region. it is not just limited to the emerging markets where we have seen a spike in volatility in recent days. this all started on wall street and indeed in the european section last week. it is filtering through to the asia-pacific. the nikkei 225 down two point five percent. stocks are lower by 2% in hong kong. check out emerging markets. jakarta, down by nearly 3% today as investors assess the economic

health of these countries and whether some of the concerns we have seen in recent days are limited to individual countries or a broad-based problem affecting emerging markets. we have seen currencies selloff precipitously in this space, and we have seen a flight to safety as investors pile into precious metals like gold and silver. it is a very active day in the equity markets and in other asset classes across asia. for theowest level overall benchmark in over four months. talking about falls for some of these equity markets, the biggest falls we have seen in seven months. david has the details on this flight to safety or quality. >> moving to the sidelines. yeah, it is basically the same group of stocks. you have japan, because of the stronger yen. down 1.5%. looking at the currencies, the peso, the rupiah, and the bot. these are the same three which took the brunt of the selling in

june, right after ben bernanke used the t-word. 45.42 for the peso, the weakest level since 2010. the rupiah is now above 12,200. that is the weakest level since november 26 of 2011. we all know what is happening in thailand. around 33 for the tie -- thai baht. volatility is spiking. we see the vix at a three-month high. this one checks emerging markets volatility. that is up 28%. looking at flight to safety, we have been tracking these all morning. with the dollar-yen, 102.39 over the past week. that strength in over 1.5%. same story for the franc. -- 1273.res, 12,070 3

jgb's, gaining. yields are falling further. there you go with the five year, 20 basis points. the lowest yield on a 20-year jgb since april of last year. >> thanks, david. staying with japan this morning, the country announced a record annual trade deficit, and we have some insight into the central banks thinking. john dawson is here. months in a row. a record streak of deficits. the figure for 2013 was almost double what it was in 2012, a shortfall coming in at ¥11.4 trillion. also the figure for this past month of december was 1.3 trillion, worst than forecast. stretch on record.

that is the picture on the trade balance, a deficit, again. the reason for that happening is high fuel costs, power generation costs. it is breaking into exports and imports. exports to china in december rose 34%, up by 15% overall. forecasts were for 80%, slightly below estimates. imports, 27.4%, also slightly below estimates. the performance, certainly stronger than it was in november, not as strong as october. exports pick up. overall, that is the situation. deficits are growing. they have done away with in place and situation, but also exports to china are improving. >> we also got a little bit of transparency coming out today. what do the bank of japan minutes revealed today show? >> really careful with their wording, as always. nothing really happened apart from talking about inflation,

forecasting it forward. that was the issue addressed was the sales tax. the bank of japan needs to speak clearly on the sales tax. it will kick in in april of this year. also, the inflation pace, they say, will lessen gradually. whereas the past 15 years of deflation as a concern, now it is over inflation, the target of 2%. that is the mantra from the bank of japan. they are on course to reach that again. cpi pace will lessen gradually. ok, thanks. dimonorgan's boss jamie in line for another big payday on top of his 74% raise last week. stocks awarded

to him in 2008, now worth some $34 million, coming after a year in which the banks income fell by 16%. jpmorgan has paid out almost $23 billion to settle regulatory and criminal investigations. the world's top trading firm for 2013, as well. against this backdrop of the governor of the bank of england will urge the world's top bankers to show restraint over bonuses, stressing the need for better conduct. sources say that mark carney held private talks and demos with executives from ubs as well as deutsche bank. lenders have seen the reputations or by a string of allegations that traders manipulate interest rates and indeed also exchange rates. retail -- banking to expanding from two wheels to four. yamaha will develop cars. a rough idea for the project

will come up by the end of the year. a yamaha motor is not two-wheel maker. we are mobility makers. since the day i became president of this company, i have been thinking we should improve our technology and expand our customer base. this means we should enter the four-wheel market. good morning to you. we are seeing a selloff under way, not a lot of optimism today in the markets here. let me give you a sense of what is moving. in hong kong, we are seeing a lot of the consumer-related shares moving, some gaining stocks particularly. tech makers, lenovo, down in the session. val international, following. i want to give you a snapshot of how some might call -- macau casino shares are doing. they are on the decline today. it is concerning the health of the asia-pacific economy, particularly those emerging markets, and china, given the sheer number of chinese who travel to macau each and every

year. check out galaxy entertainment, down nearly 3%. sands china, down nearly 3.25%. the losses are not limited there. ynn macau and mgm china, all falling in the session. let's take a look at other markets in the region. quickly checking in a northeast asia, japan, of course, in the lunch break right now, but it has been a big decline. two point five percent. the sole cost be looks like this, in more muted decline, but certainly a move to the downside. golden bridge. declining. stocks we are seeing a lot of activity in the shipping lines in japan. those are quite active, as well, this concern about perhaps a reduction in trade or at least a slowing down in some merging markets. >> we certainly saw this global rout triggered after chinese manufacturing data came through last week. emerging markets, sparking this market selloff. how are the markets trading this

monday across southeast asia? >> we have been checking in on jakarta, and now thailand. i want to give you a sense of how the bangkok index is performed today, given the volatility over the weekend. we will start off with thailand. it is down 1.4%. jakarta, clearly the big decliner. a 2.8% drop for that index today. banking and property shares are moving in jakarta. we just heard a few moments ago in the past half-hour from our correspondent in jakarta. among those stocks in thailand that are moving, it is the engineering and insurers. stocksele, among the key that seems to move on a daily basis. look at some of the hotel-related stocks. amid concerns about a drop-off in tourism, you see some of the elierrsre you -- hot advancing today. we will monitor this closely. >> coming up later on on "asia ise," jean-claude trichet

telling us about his concerns concerning emerging markets, up next, how to protect yourself from rising volatility? we will ask that question of who are sex and a -- purru saxanna. ♪

>> i don't have to say it because you are seeing it, a sea of red for asia's equity markets as the route an emergency -- emerging currencies. let's get more with puru saxena. >> i'm not going to say it. >> what a selloff. are the fundamentals there to support this fear, or what else is happening? is it psychology in the markets at play? >> we had a big rally last year in the u.s. and also japan. some other indices also had a fantastic run up. everybody was in the bullish camp.

usually you get a shakeout of some sort. everybody is aligning in some direction. i suspect we are seeing a pullback in the markets. nothing has happened technically for us to really head for the exits, but we will wait and see what happens. at the moment, the indices are moving above the key moving day averages. >> they will, of course. it is a brutalt, selloff, but it is nothing nasty at this stage. isn't the s&p 500 do for an historic correction?we are way overdue. >> we have been calling for a big correction for the last three years, and it hasn't really happened. we had a poll backs. we have had consolidations. but the trend is still up. if you look at the yield curve, the yield curve is very steep. historically, bear markets have happened or nasty selloffs have happened when the yield curve moves. >> when the s&p does very well in the year, 25% is one way of

defining it, you can find every year afterwards, it is also done well. there is an historic precedent for it to continue to move up. you are calling it the year of the bowl. it is the year of the horse, coming up. is this a temporary pullback? >> that is our view anyway. if you look at the qa tapering, although the fed has started reducing their asset purchases, they are still increasing the size of their balance sheet. they are still purchasing assets. when you have monetary tightening, liquidity leaves the system. for now, liquidity is still being injected into the system at a good pace. at some point in the future, the rates will go up. then you'll have the yield curve inversion. then you'll you will get the bear market. >> whenever you get this sort of volatility, you have these current account deficit countries like indonesia and india, like we saw back in may, get caught wrongfooted. is there a danger this time around as the volatility

, perhaps intensifies, that these countries will get sucked back into the vortex of negativity? >> of course. if you have monetary tightening in the u.s., the economies which have benefited the most from q qe are going to suffer -- are going to suffer. we believe emerging markets are not a safe place to be. whenever monetary tightening happens in the west, that will weigh negatively on the emerging economies, latin america and so forth. we don't have much exposure at all in emerging economies. >> you like europe, don't you? >> we like europe, america, japan. the old world which is done badly for the past 10 years has started outperforming the developing world since april 2011. these trends tend to stay in place for many years. i think for the next few years, investors will do better by investing money in the developed world as opposed to the developing world. >> isn't that an old play for japan?

when you look specifically at that market, we've got fears of a third arrow missing its target. you have a sales tax increase coming up. you're concerned about the boj not maintaining stimulus needed to offset economic gdp slowdowns as a result. why would you go stronger yen in that case? >> qe. if you look at the size of the stimulus, it is massive even compared to the u.s. whenever you have qe, the markets do well. the proof is in the pudding if you look at the mckay. it has been one of the top performing develop stock markets in the last year. we believe that it -- that a 20-year-plus bear market in japan is over. for the next few years, you will see a rally in japanese shares. >> even on top of the 50% we saw from last year? is 15,000 orh it so now, it is still way below where it was 24 years ago. japan is a very seasonal

markets. it does very well between november and may. if you look at a 20-your chart, you will know if you invested in november each year and come out in may, you would have still made money. now that we are on the up trend -- >> i think in your research you had something -- bull markets don't come to an end on their own. they are assassinated by policymakers. who is going to take a pot shot at this one? >> i think eventually interest rates in the u.s. will go up. >> going back to normality at the end of the day. that is what is going to happen. they all start raising rates when economic conditions are all right and we have a degree of normalcy. >> that is what we mean. that is why we don't think a bear market in the u.s. is imminent at this stage. bear marketnext big which will last for several months and may be a your two is not going to happen until the yield curve in verses after monetary parking. historically, that has happened. i usually don't bet against

history. >> we've got janet yellen. she is the first woman to helm the fed. she is going to be making history. how do you suppose she is good to take a look at the u.s. housing recovery, nascent still, but also the drop in unemployment rate, and not necessarily because the labor market is shrinking because more people are getting job -- it is because they are so disappointing they are dropping out altogether. >> the fed is not just one person. there is a whole committee. janet yellen is going to take over leadership from mr. bernanke, but i think ultimately, she's not going to do anything to kill this recovery and kill off or finish off this recovery we have seen in housing. i suspect we are going to see them take a wait-and-see approach. watch data closely. watch economic numbers. if they some point feel that inflation is now rearing its ugly head, cpi going up 0.4%, then they will start raising interest rates.

that is not going to happen for at least another 2-3 years. monetary tightening in the u.s. will probably occur in 2016-2017. >> do we get the dollar recovering? >> at some point, yes. we think the dollar is going to rally whenever qe ends. >> everybody has been saying that. >> the dollar has improved. if you look at the u.s. dollar index, it bottomed out in 2011. everybody was calling for a crash in u.s. dollar. >> against the yen, chiefly. >> if you look at the dollar index, it has appreciated. the canadian dollar has come down. the yen has come down. i think european currencies are also going to deflate against the u.s. dollar. puru, stick around. we've got more with you trade up next, bernanke's last stand. will the fed do more before

janet yellen takes charge? >> what is in -- on our radar in the u.s.? we will take a look. ♪

>> could we see more falls after friday?saw on

let's have a look at some of the things on the agenda, which could be moving markets themselves. su keenan sent us this preview. >> next week, wall street kicks off with a whole new round of earnings. tech earnings come in particular. apple will get things started on monday, reporting after the bell. it will be followed by reports from google, amazon, yahoo!, facebook, and more. on tuesday, the focus will turn to washington and the state of the union address by president barack obama. his aides have told us that the president is expected to focus on economic opportunity as opposed to economic disparity for many americans. another big event will be the exit or final days of federal reserve chairman ben bernanke. he has one more meeting to go. he officially leaves friday evening with janet yellen taking over on february 1. as for earnings. of thell be the peak season. bloomberg data's -- shows so far out of the 120 two s&p 500 companies that have already reported, 74% beat estimates for

profit, and 67% exceeded estimates for sales. in new york, su keenan, bloomberg. >> let's take a quick look ahead at some of the main events we will be following for you this week. after earnings disappointed for samsung and hyundai, lg electronics is set to be the next korean heavyweight to report results. that is due today. the company will be looking to rebound from a loss that came on the strengthening yuan. tomorrow, we have policy makers meeting in india. while the central bank has raised rates to control inflation, economists expect no change this time around. ended badly have for nintendo. we are going to get december quarter results on wednesday for console-maker. it covers the annual loss nintendo worried about last week, especially on lower sales because of the wii u. sands china reports on thursday, the day before chinese new year, and becoming the first of the macau casinos out with

fourth-quarter results. sands, which runs the city's largest casino, is riding the boom that has brought millions of chinese gamblers to macau. >> going to the session in india. will they be doing the same thing as has been happening in the rest of the world? 20 minutes to go before the mumbai open. down. the usual suspects, all falling back at the moment in the session. we've got south korea in the mix. the seoul market, not wanting to be left out of the route we have seen across the asia-pacific region. there are concerns about this a lot taking place as far as emerging markets and how that could worsen. we suddenly wish and for the argentinian peso. we also had, of course, weakness in turkey, with the lira dropping back. are under severe pressure as far as the turkish economy goes, as well. here in hong kong, the hang seng was also under a bit of

pressure, in excess of a 2% decline. we have a reopened taking place. they will be restarting the trading day over in tokyo. that is coming up, as well. looking forward to business in the afternoon in the japanese capital. checked in onwe it, weakness across the board when it came to the nikkei to 25. two stocks surprisingly moving to the upside. one of them, a company that has contaminated 3000 people who are unwell after eating some of its products. we have talked about that a little bit. also, just seeing a japanese yen , which has rallied marginally. that has also been helping to weigh on the market. ♪

leadings in jakarta, the tumble as the route spreads a clock -- a cross asia. an election under threat. protesters disrupt early voting in thailand. what went wrong? not going to plan. let's get the latest on the markets now with zeb eckert. >> it is a grim day in the markets across the region, following those declines on wall street and in the european session. it is emerging markets that have investors worried. it concerns about the health of these markets and a time of

tapering from the federal reserve. certainly, overall questions about the general health of their own economies. it started in argentina. it?you believe the devaluing of the peso last week. then some lukewarm manufacturing numbers out of china, and it filtered through to the markets across the world with emerging-market currencies first feeling the pain. we are generally seen emerging markets across the asia-pacific today declining, as well. in fact, volatility in this space has jumped significantly. emerging-market volatility is, it,vix index as we know surging. singapore and thailand, following today. look at what is happening in asia.ast the hang seng, lower by 2%. shanghai is down. the nikkei 225 is seeing a 2.5% drop. >> what is happening in japan after the lunch break? we saw some big selloffs there. >> angie, it has been a

significantly down day. as you reported this morning, only two stocks were advancing. now we have three stocks advancing in the tokyo session. a cause for optimism. these are the only equities moving higher today. otherwise, it is a down day across the board. in sumer goods are leading declines. transportation stocks, and also some automobile makers, falling in tokyo. let's take a quick look at what we are seeing with a japanese yen. it has been active. the yen has been strengthening. that is not good for those exporters in japan. this is what we have right now. indeed, the yen continuing that strengthening, a modest move. it continues to tick higher. we will watch the japanese -- the japanese currency today. currency markets, very active. in these times of uncertainty, precious metals rising. old is up at a two-month high. toss those forecasts onto the

window. the last few days have seen sharp declines in currencies in emerging markets. we've got some out there. some't even get it out -- trading strategies in utter disarray. we were talking about the argentinian peso. we've got the turkish lira, really being hit. >> also, you see the strengthening of the japanese yen. a lot of things are coming together -- what has happened is we have seen the sharpest slump in emerging markets for x -- forex and almost five years. emerging-market economies have dropped below forecasts. a lot of these top trades, some of these banks recommended them a few months back, are in total disarray. if you went with it, you would have lost out on a lot of money. first, from bank of america-merrill lynch, they recommended in november to buy the mexican peso against the japanese yen.

their expectation was you could make a 9.4% return. aboutactually a loss of 1.5%, if i'm not mistaken. the other one, buy the turkish lira. >> the spreads are going to be so big with these, as well. >> it is really -- i guess, just a note, the top trades i mentioned have already been abandoned. fairnessoint, in all to these forecasters, it is hard to predict. they didn't get it a very right or very wrong. i think we were talking about a few months ago, usually when you get the japanese yen rising, you make a lot of money. it is the most bumpy g 10 currency. it is either been the best performing or worst-performing currency over the past five or so years. it is a very interesting quote coming from the head of foreign exchange at chapter lane. he said, last week, traders

would have either made their year or lost their jobs. that highlights how sharp the moves have been. statistically, we don't see this happening a lot. lira, forned the example. you can put in the south african rand, as well. the drop last week was above the normal trading ratio. it is not something that you see very often. less than 3% at the time it happens. >> thank you very much indeed. >> let's get some perspective from dow posts -- davos. markets arein the not surprising, according to lloyd blankfein. he said stocks have risen so much in value that it would be normal not -- it would be abnormal not to see some devaluation. >> right now, one of the macro themes in the market is that emerging markets are under some pressure. why not? they are higher yields. they are riskier. people know what they are getting into when they have them. at the same time, growth

potential is so high, they are attractive. they are going to go through fits and starts. this is an example of it. each country has their own dynamic. echoedman sachs coo his comments saying, we have seen moves like this before. >> this is not an extorting very movement in the market. we have seen movements like this before. remember what we saw when ben started on the tapering speech last year? we saw a 100-basis point move in year.0 year -- 10 we have seen normal reaction to things that go on in growth markets. these are growth markets. they are not developed markets. despite what you're seeing in the markets today, there is growing optimism overall that the global recovery strengthening, and if former ecb expects growth this year will outpace that of 2013. however, jean-claude trichet warned there are potential problems. >> he's probably right in

2014 would be a nice year with growth all over the world and with a little bit more growth than last year. again, the mood is good. you can understand that from a short-term perspective. of course, risks are still there. risks are there everywhere, obviously, certainly in the advanced economies. central banks are still doing extraordinary things, including zero rates, monetary measures, and that signals that things are in the working normally advanced economies, even if they are going. risks are also there in the emerging world, with the most vulnerable countries -- we are

relying upon the growth of the emerging economies. still again, some of them, because of the change of the global finances and the financial cycle being on its way to change, the most vulnerable are clearly risks that are identified by the global international community. the question is, or the fears that have triggered today's market selloff justified? our guest thinks not. >> this is quite absurd what has happened. always -- they don't know better. the market simply are. they are not right or wrong. i find little justification of global, supposedly global selloff. when i look at the numbers, hello, does neither global nor a selloff. in asia, for example, indonesia, thailand, and the philippines are year to date up. >> we've got barry start, chief

executive prudential, saying the current market uncertainty is a minor blip and emerging markets will continue to grow strongly. >> on the ground in markets where we have important, strong positions like indonesia, the philippines, malaysia, we are actually not seeing any slowdown. it is sort of business as usual, which gives me a lot of encouragement that this is short-term volatility, not anything systemic that is happening. beingnwhile, smokers are pressured to stop. luxury some are maker devitt off remains optimistic, saying china will drive sales. >> china is already the seventh largest market in the world. in 2014, they will move into the number four position. this is clearly the signal biggest opportunity for the luxury cigar market. >> that is the word on the market rout and cigars in asia. >> up next, where to find safety

in the selloff. we are going to be discussing the global stock decline and all the day's top stories when "asia edge" returns. stay with us. ♪

>> welcome back. ,oining me now, puru saxena wealth management ceo of puru saxena. let's talk a little bit about your move towards europe.we had mario draghi and jean-claude trichet talking about essentially concerns about deflation. that is good news because that means printing money. that is what you are suggesting, isn't it? policymakers worry about deflation, that is good for the asset markets, because they print money. when policymakers worry about inflation, that is when you've got to sell and run. if european policymakers are that,d about deflation,

in our view, will benefit asset prices in europe. >> we hear that from draghi, signaling that there will be some sort of stimulus package, buts to the private sector, it could certainly inject some liquidity. in a world news were bad news is good news and good news is bad news, is this good news because it is good news or because it is bad news? >> it is good news because it prints money. based on theill principle that there is still bad news out there. >> it depends on whether it is good news for the economy's are good news for the markets. usually, when the economy is bad and when policymakers are pursuing loose monetary policies, that is very good news for asset markets. rally. why asset markets everybody is bearish. they are paying attention to economic data and the fundamentals. the other primary reason investors are in the game, the economy is looking wonderful as

markets are topping off. usually markets run ahead of the economy. in light of the fmoc meeting this week, whatever the ecb may do this year, would that be enough to offset say the draining liquidity coming from the fed? >> i think there is not draining and liquidity. the fed is still buying assets. >> there is a reduction. >> the draining liquidity will come when qe stops and they start raising the fed funds interest rate and start contracting the interest rate. that is when you'll see the big bear market. i don't think we are there yet. year,could happen this and of this year, or next year? >> i suspect interest rates will not go up until the middle of 2016. i may be wrong. i don't think the economy is strong enough to warrant it. puru has been saying that for quite a while. remarkably consistent, puru. >> we feel qe will probably end

by the middle of next year. >> it will be nice when it does and so we don't have to talk about it anymore. >> your forecast is longer than most people think. most economists think it will be december 2014, and it is all of her. you think it could extend into next year? if you look at some of the fed minutes given last year and the speeches, they said that they thought the unemployment rate would come down to their target level at some point in the second half of 2015. this is part of my forecast. >> true enough, but it is the quality of the on employment rate that should be the true story. if you take a look at the wage, at wages, it has not bumped up, which would reflect a more robust and healthy labor market. in fact, it has stayed stagnant for this entire time, despite the unemployment rate -- >> i am with you. i don't think the economy is strong enough. housing is barely moving.

the unemployment rate is still fairly high. if the fed acts to hastily, all the work they have done in the past few years will basically evaporate. we will be dealing with the next big crisis. i think they will let this thing go on for a bit longer than most people expect. interest rates will probably start going up in 2016, the fed funds rate. >> the drop in bond prices today, looking at jgb's, do you think those are priced and already? >> i think so. >> i think the 20-year is that the most since april of last year. --dr. doom, ruby need, warned of japanese-chinese military action. a little bit dramatic. people began the year looking pretty positive, but it seems as if the wheels are coming off somewhat. >> emerging markets are probably going to get worse before they get better. we have been out of the space for almost two years. our view has been, when the

paper happens in the qe ends, that is going to be bad news for the developing stock markets. they have benefited the most from qe, if you look at asset prices in hong kong, indonesia, etc. asset prices went through the roof. if you take away the punch bowl, there will be a curve. >> a quarter of the population of the world will be voting this year. the political intervention, the unrest in bangkok, for example -- are they feeling more nervous than before? >> i don't pay much attention to political development. they cause temporary problems. i am not a political analyst like dr. ruby -- roubini. political situations aside, you have temporary unrest, and even if you have world war i or world war ii, markets will eventually recover. [laughter] >> despite a war, markets will recover. [laughter] >> i'm not a political analyst.

>> ok, but maybe the black swan event, to john's point, could be a geopolitical thing, or could it be a financial meltdown of the chinese shadow banking market? january 31, this friday, will be a critical deadline on whether icbc will pay back a trust product to retail investors. could the wheels come off on january 31? >> i don't know the date, but i prices in china are absurdly valued. there is a gigantic bubble if you look at affordable evaluations -- affordability evaluations. the credit boom has been happening. and our view, there is a big problem in china's banking sector. there is a big problem in real estate. i'm not smart enough to tell you when it will end. >> could it cause global contagion? >> i don't think it will cause global contagion because if you look at the size of the european balance sheet, they were masses.

it -- if you look at china's problem, it is largely contained. i may be wrong, but i suspect the problems will be more domestic-oriented and probably the property developers and banks will feel the heat the most. >> the turkish issue, which has been going on for a while now -- this is what sparked things off along with the argentinian peso. with the amount of paper that european banks hold, turkish paper, that is more of a danger, isn't it? >> of course. if you look at the price action, the currencies of the emerging world over the last few weeks, it has been pretty dramatic. if you remember what happened last summer, there was a selloff in emerging markets. all the currencies fell sharply. i think this is a precursor of things to come when the fed stops qe and interest rates go up. i think there will be a crisis in the developing world. the rating for turkey was actually lifted up by agencies -- >> i think it was moody's. how far we have come. how ironic. >> do you give any credence to

them at all? >> i don't pay much attention to any of them. if i look at balance sheets and cash flow statements, i tend to do well. [laughter] >> what do you pay attention to? >> i look at the price action first and foremost. i look at technical data. i look at volume, moving averages, the strong sectors, the weak sectors. we follow a trend-following program which is based on selling weakness. we run a tight ship based on stocks. we do have some input on the fundamental side, but from early, we look at prices. >> numbers never lie. puru saxena, thank you so much for joining us today. >> the trend is always your friend until it ends. [laughter] up next, ruffling a few feathers. >> find out what happens when too many chickens cross the road. this is "asia edge." stay with us. ♪

like.s is what it looks trading got underway about 10 minutes ago or so. sensex, following. we see these falls all across the board in the asia-pacific. in mumbai, no exception. we do get emergency -- emerging-market currencies under pressure. the rupee, a little bit cheaper than it was yesterday, i suppose. that is a snapshot of what it is looking at -- looking like at the moment as far as the india trading day goes. >> checking some other stories making headlines around the world, the unrest in thailand has upset early voting for this weekend's election. protesters forced the closure of polling stations in bangkok and in the south. voting went on a largely unimpeded elsewhere, but the events in the capital show the protesters there do have the ability to disrupt saturday's main vote. it is also affecting the vital

tourism industry. several hotels in bangkok and only 30% are reporting occupancy. thailand's antigovernment protests have brought another fertility with a man shot dead in a bangkok suburb. police say he was killed. he exhorted crowds to disrupt early voting for next weekend's election. the city's emergency services said at least 11 people were injured. protest leaders said the campaign will continue until the prime minister and her government stand down. europe's most active volcano has erupted for the first time this year. some dramatic pictures in the very early morning. sount aetna -- etna' performance closed nearby airport temporarily, but it didn't threaten nearby villages. the volcano was particularly restive in 2013 with a new crater forming on its southeastern slope.

ok, ready to answer this? why did the chicken or chickens cross the road? lorrye it is -- its crashed. this was the scene in china where a truck carrying 3000 birds overturned in dense fog. thousands escaped, forcing the closure of the road, giving traffic police a little bit of a headache. neither chickens nor the driver were hurt. hashe luxury yacht world china in its sights, aiming to tap into the growing number of wealthy buyers, but as angus bennett reports, it is something of a hard sell. ♪ >> it is party time at the mayfair hotel in london. the heads of the world's most luxurious yacht builders are here for a once a year get together, a chance to rub shoulders with clients while sitting on a few smoking cocktails.

but there is one question which bridges the rivalry between these yacht builders -- china and why the country with the second-highest number of billionaires is in buying their boats. >> there is not a single yacht delivery into china will -- china. >> this is peter larson, the maker of the world's largest megayacht. its design has more in common with the navy frigate than a normal yacht. the cost? that is a secret, but previous yachts of a similar size have sold for more than $300 million. selling the mediterranean dream to china has proved difficult. p in van dyke runs fedshi holland. unlike other sellers, he is eager to break down the barrier. >> the potential is there. there is money. they are very creative. it is a matter of planning.

>> currently, china has a lack of marinas and other yachting infrastructure, but that is not all that is told in the industry back. chinating sailboats into is very hard. they have a 45% prohibitive luxury tax, which is clearly a protectionist elements. >> back at the cocktail party, you can spot a lack of chinese buyers. yacht makers agree it could require a generational shift before chinese billionaires are convinced to buy, but the rush is already begun to secure the first deals and break new ground. angus bennett, bloomberg. >> you can get a taste of the good life on our website. /luxury.oomberg.com what about the markets today? >> we've got asian stocks slide in the most in seven months. we've got the yen strengthening on that safety play. risk aversion is the name of the game. >> i've got a quote here --

traders either made their year or lost their jobs this week. commodities on the up.

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