>> the eu and u.s. war in russia not to annex crimea. yuan falls to its weakest level in a month as the central bank doubles its daily trading range against the dollar. welcome to "countdown."

>> it is 6:00 here in london this morning. ryan chilcote is following the ukraine tension from brussels. >> caroline hyde has the details of the potential vodafone deal. >> let's start with our top story. crimean's have voted to secede from ukraine and join russia. that is according to early results of yesterday's referendum. western governments announce the vote as a legal. european union foreign ministers gather in two hours to discuss sanctions against russia. brian is in brussels. -- ryan is in brussels. >> they will be whittling down the list of dozens of members of

russia's elite that it intends to subject to put these restrictions -- visa restrictions. punish kremlin officials and members of russia's elite who politically played a role in the russian incursion in crimea. dissuadeis to president putin from annexing crimea. goal is to discourage president putin from going further into the ukrainian mainland. include theuld also heads of two state-controlled companies. producer's largest gas and the ceo of the world's

largest oil producer by output. we do not know if that will be the case. we have heard from a lot of the eu officials saying there is a desire to do this step-by-step to introduce sanctions and punish russia in ways that are commensurate with what russia is doing on the ground. leaving russia some diplomatic wiggle room to back down and to shoulde eu's powder dry russia escalate the situation. >> what is russia's next move? >> that is a good question. interesting to watch the movements on the ground. what happened in crimea went down as expected. ukrainian mainland, we did see russian troops appear on saturday. officials say they moved back by a mile on thursday.

the defense minister said russian forces and ukrainian forces have reached a truce that will last until friday. any russian military action in the ukrainian mainland, outside of crimea, but in ukraine, would provoke a much severe reaction from eu leaders when they gather on thursday and friday. >> we will come back to you a little later. the developments in crimea continue to drive markets. asian equities little moved on this crisis. we know the crimea vote would go the way it has gone. whether russia will move to annex the region entirely.

you have seen global equities erase all of the gains from the year. 70% on the air. we are only three months into this year. percent will hurt the wealth of some key individuals. moves in the currency as well. the ruble will changed against the euro. yearwn over 10% for the over a whole host of currencies. both those companies with huge exposure to the region. 39% of the revenue. look at how those stocks have moved this year so far. whatever happens with sanctions, you have seen them move in the ruble moneys guys convert the revenues, it it will hurt.

>> record low for the ruble against the dollar. >> joining us the head of annex strategy. what is the overwhelmingly driving markets right now? tensions over crimea? chinese growth story? >> a bit of everything. the crimean story could dominate the market while the outcome was as toed, some uncertainty whether russia will want to extend its geopolitical influence beyond crimea. we also have that vote in the russian duma. for any new incursions in other parts of ukraine. that is a concern. we also have the efforts by the western governments to contain

and de-escalate tensions by imposing sanctions on russia. we have the meeting in brussels today. i do not think any new measures will be announced the on the measures that have been discussed in the press. clients think the market may not perceive them to sufficient. some uncertainty there as well. there will be more speculation about imposing tougher sanctions. view, morent of uncertainty could lie ahead. play it out for us. implications for domestic assets in russia.

the russian government is not doing anything to prevent that. overall, subdued market sentiment. liquid safe havens could remain in demand. >> what about poland? what about hungary? >> that uncertainty will likely effect those assets. the foreign ministers are willing to take that extra step towards tougher sanctions on russia. oil or gas embargo, which could hit hard the russian economy. it could mean significant supply disruptions. >> what is the investment communities working assumption? think the russians

are going to use the role they have in supplying gas to the eu as a weapon? as ant is being used important factor. putin is unlikely to move beyond crimea. the second one is the perception that the west is unable to influence russia's decision-making process. there will be no sanctions acceptable for the west that could deter russia from escalating it further. that nos are assuming embargo is expected. there is potential for the crisis to escalate. us, morell stay with on ukraine and the news out of china, the doubling of the limit for the daily moves against the

dollar. a big week for the fed. a big week for george osborne. >> let's bring in caroline hyde and john dawson. >> i'll be reporting on how vodafone continues to splash back cash. we understand it has its hands on the spanish cable operator. it wants to become the hub for all data access, whether on smartphones or tablets or smart tv. i will be back much more with the details. the second-biggest ipo since facebook. york overoosing new hong kong. why did that happen?

in-hoursplain why choice -- have an hours time. >> russian stocks have opened higher today. the ruble is at a record low against the dollar. ♪

by asianreed to banking, a private banking business. the deal includes selective parts of the french banks trust business. vodafone is said to have reached a deal to buy spanish cable operator ono. the deal may be announced as soon as today. shares of softbank rose more than six percent in early tokyo trading. this fun new said alibaba is starting its ipo process in the -- this on news that alibaba is starting its ipo

process in the u.s.. welcome back to countdown. i just want to talk about china. to asset markets, it doubled the limit for the yuan daily move against the dollar. it is falling today. how do you expected to fare after that move? >> the move was expected, it was part of the strategy. the perceived strategy that the pboc was having in mind. why it is weakening pboc be the efforts by the , it will be fluctuating. that is adding to concerns that in addition to introducing

volatility, there is a bigger story going on. concerns about the growth outlook in china. backwill push the chinese to relying on exports. >> how do you measure the cyclical and structural influences on the chinese currency? would use to talk for years about whether the chinese currency was undervalued? >> chinese officials are referring to the surplus and the fact that there is not much left of it to suggest that in terms of more upside for the yuan, there is not much left from that debate. if anything, greater volatility would mean there will be less for them to intervene down the road. what we have seen most recently,

marketstions in the fx resulted in buildup of reserves. more volatility in the yuan could mean the dollar could be one of the beneficiaries. >> how long before we see full convertibility of the chinese currency? >> at least two years until we have an opening of the capital account. given the chinese are very .autious they do see that having a control of your currency, the importance of that is. given the japanese experience on the aggressive appreciation of the yen impacted growth.

keep inl want to control for a bit longer. >> does the dollar still have much of the safe haven status? investors to return to that asset class. >> not in the middle of this crimea crisis. >> there are various factors that play. that would be the ultimate safe haven. other safe havens, like the swiss bonds, they still look fairly expensive compared to the trade. >> the euro has been a safe haven throughout this ukrainian crisis. >> it is difficult to assess without the actual data. the data will be released by the

imf and we will have a better gauge as to how much into the euros. it is benefiting. what really matters is liquidity. the euro seems to have performed very well last summer. view, thepoint of euro is an attractive safe haven. it helps the periphery is clearly not on the radar screens anymore. thet will be a big week for fed. janet yellen presiding over her first fomc meeting. in terms of the market assumptions -- hawkish surprise. in view of the fact that the fed

will be looking at broader measures. they will be looking at earnings data, household earnings, is quite interesting. that was an indication that the core inflation was a bit stronger than expect it. that is the signal that the fed sends this week, that could be perceived as -- >> the death afforded -- the death of forward guidance this week? walk strong words. -- >> strong words. >> thank you. >> vodafone agrees to buy the spanish cable operator ono. see why vodafone would want to buy assets in spain. ♪

mobile giant vodafone is said to have reached a deal to buy spanish cable operator own know for $10 million. caroline hyde is here with the details. away fromo been lured its previous plan of an ipo? >> it seems to have been lured

away by vodafone, which has cash to splash on cable operators. now going for the spanish operator. be 7.2 ilya and euros. -- billion euros. it is a company that had been looking to cash into one extent. maybe far more certainty coming from the vodafone. they are getting promised a large sum of cash, but also some sweeteners. initial share sales, we know the market has been ruled by uncertainty with ukraine, china's slowdown. a be there is that much more certainty being acquired -- maybe there is that much more certainty being acquired by vodafone.

they can eventually tackle some of the competition. >> why would it want to buy assets in spain? has beennomy that under pressure, but vodafone has nine percent of its revenue coming from spain. it has skin in the game and it now wants scale. a mountain of cash, $30 billion worth, ever since they exited verizon. cabletarted to get into because they want to become a hub for all of our data access. the amount you and i spend on our phone in voice text is declining. freeve apps that give us talking and texting. the mobile operators need is to be accessing data.

vodafone wants to be at home with us as well. we will have connected everything, connected televisions. >> that is by vodafone going to the spanish assets. >> they have money to spend and it looks like they will keep on spending it. they want to make the networks better. want to be front and center to everything and that is why we think so many of these players -- >> they have more money to spend even after this. they are spending on into structure. they still have more money to spend on potential acquisitions. >> it is trying to show that it

is the one doing the buying. inside the biggest u.s. ipo in two years. ♪

>> is this the calm before the storm? crimea -- will rush a vote to annex the reason -- the region and will the u.s. retaliate? pretty flat for the trading session over in asia. money going into the yen, money going into the swiss franc. this was frank at october 11 -- october 2011 high. japanese yen at a one-month high. these two companies are the beacon of risk aversion. a very good way to express a view on rising risk aversion.

the u.s. and european union warned russia not to annex crimea after a referendum in the ukraine southern region. 95 point hi percent of voters .5%ed leaving ukraine -- 95 of voters backed leaving ukraine. russia says it fully met international norms. malaysia is broadening its appeal for international help us to search for the missing jet entered its second week. stretches to area the waters of australia. officials are scrutinizing the crew after they established the plane operated almost seven hours following its lost contact with air traffic controllers. george osborne says he plans to boost construction in this week's budget. .e will extend the help program

>> a key part of economic security is enabled to afford your own place. helped people enter homes and build new homes. i want to extend the scheme for newly built houses. we will extend it for the rest of the decade. 120,000 new homes. >> we will bring you the chancellor's budget this wednesday. welcome back. in its 10th day, the search for the missing malaysia flight risks becoming the largest hunt in modern civil aviation. let's head to kuala lumpur.

>> the plane operated almost seven hours after the last contact with air traffic control and last contact was made at 11 a.m.. when stretching from the border to northern thailand. the other from indonesia to the southern indian ocean. india is among two dozen countries malaysia is contacting for assistance. ist the authorities also say the e cards was turned off. the transponder was switched off after those acts were done deliberately. that is why the crew is now in focus. they are under scrutiny. the plane may have been on the

ground when some signals were sent. when the satellite handshakes were done. 25 countries now involved in the search. 10 days on, still nothing. malaysia has confirmed that french officials are helping out with the investigation. the reference to the plane that went down some years ago. >> alibaba has chosen the u.s. over hong kong in what could be the biggest listing since facebook. john dawson joins us from hong kong. >> good morning. the reason why is hong kong's choice. it would be and huge boon for either exchange. is biggest one in hong kong

$4 billion. presentce. this alibabase to reject because the founder wants to keep control. he wanted a partnership to nominate the majority of the board. hong kong does not allow shared class with different voting rights. that is the reason why. 28 partners want to choose the board itself. that is why they went to the u.s., the biggest ipo since facebook. kong.a big loss for hong cut your face off to spite -- whatever the expression is. >> how big of a blow is this to hong kong?

>> so stringent in turning down this $200 billion, the biggest internet company ipo in the whole of asia. based on their own rules, will not be flexible at all. you could argue against a big loss going forward. off his nose cuts to spite his face. but the yuan -- >> the yuan fell to its weakest level in a month. fromen engle joins us beijing. how significant is this? >> good morning. it is an interesting step. to get thepants try exchange rates and the interest rates more market-based. in the seen a weakness

you want as a result of this announcement over the weekend. we're seeing a lot more volatility this first day since the band was widened. it is used to price options, it has climbed to a 1.5 year high today. leaders have pledged to make the exchange rate more market-based and this is another step. we have the number of steps going back to the de-pegging in july and we have had three incremental whitening of the band -- widening of the band. tradens the yuan can within the two percent band on either side of the daily reference rate. >> it is still managed.

we used to talk about how the yuan was structurally undervalued. that supported the chinese export engine. it we can begin today after the weekend announcement -- a weekend today after the afternoon announcement. >> the timing seems to signal that the currency is no longer a one-way bet to appreciate. traders seem to agree. they arefrom ubs, maintaining their target for the yuan at 6.1 to the dollar. that is only strike -- slightly stronger to what it is today. even the weak exports on the slowing pace of growth, ubs sees little outside. -- upside.

>> the company behind the world's biggest skyscraper has plans to show it should -- so it's shopping. ♪

glaxosmithkline plans to hire

doctors to educate their peers about its drugs instead of paying external speakers. the move comes amid changes to its marketing practices following a record fraud settlement in the united states. nikon will fix digital cameras at no charge. its -- evenerve as after warranties expired. to bechoo owner is said in early talks with banks about a possible state sale. they would retain majority interest and used the sale to fund expansion in asia. "countdown."to

developer of the the world's tallest skyscraper searched on sunday after it announced plans to spin off its shopping mall business. it is the biggest company to take advantage of the emirates rebounding economy. elliott has more. this is mark something of a turnaround? -- does this mark something of a turnaround? inlet's not forget back 2009, the emirates and companies were left reeling after one of the world worst property crashes. now we have a real estate boom. all of which is contributing to an economy around five percent in 2013. it is helping the largest

weighted stock on the dubai stock market, taking advantage of those recent gains and the better sentiment regarding dubai to sell shares in its shopping mall business. it will be selling $2.5 billion worth of shares and returning most of that money to its long-suffering shareholders as a little bit of a reward. some investors are suggesting, the air using this money to reward shareholders rather than paying down debt. everyone in london is accessed with property prices. rise as, they could much as 40%. they are not the only company in the region to be selling shares. >> it is a secondary offering, not an initial public offering.

the first planned ipo from dubai since 2009. it is planning to raise $135 million. the national petroleum construction company is also planning an initial public offering. even in egypt, and arabian cement company planning that countries first ipo since mubarak. prices rose 9.5% in london last month. >> i tend to remember that was a weak spot in the last report. you have a bigger figure than dubai's potential gains. german utility says it has

agreed to sell its oil and gas units 201 energy. l1 energy. when you consider that the european authorities are coming up with the name of potential russian oligarchs who they will put together a blacklist against. these guys to not have much to do with crimea and they got out of their oil and gas business when they sold their stake for $5.1 billion last year. what is happening is their company, which is based in luxembourg, they will actually 5.4 alienwe for about euros.

-- billion euros. they will use that as a launching pad for further oil and gas investment. they want to use that to build. it is based in hamburg and it has interest in the north sea and germany, denmark, and also egypt. it has some luminaries on it like lord brown, a former chief executive officer of bp. ceo.w gould was a former they are on the board or advising level one. we -- rweense, rgb can pay down debt. they want to focus on their core business, power generation. it is an interesting deal all around.

>> watch out for shares in rwe this morning. >> the world's longest civil war might be coming to an end. ♪

>> welcome back. the high-octane world of finance is stressful enough, yet two hong kong bankers spend their downtime anymore demanding

environment. finance, the mantra is work hard on the play hard. four to bankers in hong kong, their play is 100% work. they dedicate their down time to tennis. week loved into the high-octane world of trading. at the end of the day, they go their separate ways. it is forehand, backhand, serve and volley. the aim, davis cup glory for hong kong. -- most ofir message their matches see them facing pros. >> we are a little this

advantage, but that is life. we do the best we can. we are in the best -- we are the best in hong kong. we have less hours dedicate toward trading. we will try to squeeze five hours into three. some things are stacked up against you, but you have to deal with it. groupmotion to davis cups 2. he is a former pro himself. he is now equity researcher for susquehanna. >> i am lucky to be doing what i do. >> king is a two-time u.s. junior champion and a four-time all-american. in his youth, he faced a man that would become a tennis legend, pete sampras. this year is already tough.

matchong lost the first to tie when -- to taiwan. for both teams, it is a must when. the doubles team, is this the best partnership you have been involved in? >> we know our strengths and we know our weaknesses. >> the next time you are winding down with a cold one after work, think of two bankers sweating it out over a tennis match intent on victory. >> john has a very elegant forehand. he did 26 takes to get that. >> that is not true. us, youg he did tell are not a bad tennis player in your youth. >> in my youth, exactly.

>> time for look at some of our picks from the newspapers today. here.ne hyde is david tweed is with us as well. >> i want to talk about a story which is absolutely ripped germany. -- gripped germany. this is the president of the most successful football club in germany. title, that means an end to complacency. sentence5 years jail for tax evasion. the most extraordinary thing about this case was as the trial unwound last week, the tax evasion number started at three .5 million euros and it grows on the first day to 18.5 billion euros.

and 27 million euros. 28.5 million euros. you can imagine why it has been gripping germany. weekendon to win on the and that makes 50 games in a row that it has one unbroken. it has not put a club of its pieces yet. >> thank you very much. one, allof a serious eyes are on crimea and russia. the media is somewhat to blame for this. our eyes can be averted. --s is the longest civil war longest running civil war in colombia. the peace talks have been happening in havana and it has

been -- the peace talks are very close and it could mean the end of the civil war and of the vast cut in the global supply of cocaine. >> a civil war with global implications. >> yesterday's loss is painful. manchester united zero, liverpool three. this was in manchester. twohen girard scored penalties. there.t my name in my worst nightmare. i faced my pain. >> welcome to the city of tomorrow. places a feature on a that will be named as the garden

city for the 21st century. england has had a few garden city's. it looks like we will get a new one. continues in the next hour. stay with us. ♪

in not toand u.s. war annex crimea with the threat of sanctions. nd. >>ening the ban forfone reaches a deal seven billion euros. welcome to "countdown," i mark barton. >> it is 7:00 here in london. let's get back to our top story.

crimea voted by a wide margin to secede from ukraine. the west has largely denounced this vote as illegal. they will not recognize it. sanctions are being discussed against russia. ryan chilcote is on the scene for more. russia is being threatened with sanctions. the goal, obviously of these sanctions is to punish russia for going forward with this referendum and to dissuade going aheadtin from with annexing crimea, and finally to prevent him from going forward with any military action in the ukrainian mainland itself. magazine included a list of

some of the names of some of russia's largest a controlled companies. the ceo of gazprom is among them. at a minimum that this list will include individuals that the west teams as politically playing a hand in the crimean in persian. what is the goal? incursion.rimean the united states wants to get russia to stand down. there is a sense that the european union would like to keep their powder dry and allow themselves room to escalate the as and if russia escalates.

does that leave the situation in ukraine? militarily, it is somewhat interesting. not a whole lot has changed. nothing really unexpected in crimea itself. we did have russian forces surface not too far from the crimean border on saturday. the ukrainian defense ministry reported that the russian troops had withdrawn a little bit on sunday. the ukrainian defense ministry said that ukrainian forces had actually reached a truce with russian troops, a sort of nonaggression pact that expires on friday. any military intervention on russia's part in the ukrainian mainland itself would definitely prompt those eu leaders to take more serious action. back to you. >> ryan chilcote reporting from the eu foreign ministers meeting

in brussels. >> more on the situation, let's bring in henry meyer area he joins us on the phone from moscow. is russia going to ignore warnings and press ahead with annexing crimea? yes, i think everything points to that direction. this could happen as early as next week. what would be required would be a vote approving that in the lower and upper house of armament. that would go to president to team for a signature. crimean prime minister said yesterday he that to happen next week. expects that to happen the likelihood appears to be rising. it is hard to say at this stage exactly what that likelihood is, but the statements coming out of

russian officials, russian foreign ministry only a couple of days ago said russia had from citizensls in those parts of ukraine, russian speaking citizens, for protection. there have been a number of clashes in aeadly couple of eastern ukrainian cities in recent days, which the ukrainian government say are being instigated i pro russian forces. in a sense, the legal groundwork is being laid. it is not entirely clear whether president putin has made up his mind whether he is going to go ahead with that. >> as we speak i'm a we're getting the official results from the crimea referendum. -- 96 point 96% seven percent of voters have backed crimea joining russia. those results just coming through now. what can the u.s. and the eu do

to prevent russia pushing in to other parts of ukraine? essentiallyegy is -- they will be adopting sanctions today. the eu are meeting and the u.s. will be increasing existing sanctions that it has already applied. it will be essentially warning russia that if that were to happen, then we are talking about large-scale very serious economic sanctions which would include restrictions on banking and investments, possibly asset freezes. they're hoping that that will act as a cold shower. it is it not clear if that will be sufficient. resident who team at the moment seems to be driven not by economic considerations but by much larger strategic considerations. he may be willing to carry that economic cost. >> henry, we will leave it there. you looking at the crimean

referendum chief. the results of the referendum have just come through. 96.7% have voted for crimea joining russia. >> let's stick with this story. developments in and around crimea continued to drive markets. jonathan ferro has the details. interesting, the index moving higher in the early hours of trade. >> that is not going to change anything because we knew which way the vote was going to go. are down around 17% for the first three months of this year. together with china, this geopolitical risk has erased all of the gains for this year. we know now this is not just about ukraine. this is a country that accounts for 0.4% of global gdp. this is about political escalation and how this goes out

across the region, even involving the u.s. and what is means for sanctions going or where. thatnry was just raising the juxtaposition of the theiric concerns against geopolitical concerns, you wonder how that plays out. how is this laying out in the currency market? >> the ruble is pretty flat right now. it has been on the back foot. it is trading at record lows against a host of currencies. if you are a european company or any foreign company and you have a lot of revenue coming out of russia and the reuben -- and the ruble is on the back foot, every time you convert them, you are going to take a hit. elsewhere, the bottom line is we are not talking about energy sanctions right now. 160 ilion dollar reason for that. that is how much crude and gas is it exported to europe and the u.s.. needs isthing europe

an energy crisis. anyone stepping forward will be well aware of that. >> just getting confirmation. >> vodafone is now taking it is all about vodafone being a hub for our data access. the want to be accessing internet with their smart televisions and tablets. that is why they are snapping up cable operators. it is all about the internet and tv and mobile. 7.2 billion euros is the figure that we are getting. that is on a debt and cash free basis. that is exactly what we expect it. 'sat is about 7.5 times ono earnings. they had to offer a sweetener

because they were going to sell shares anyway. investors wanted to get bank for their buck. they wanted to exit the company and make some money. vodafone said no, come with us. the amount of cost savings you can have very vodafone already has exposure to spain, nine percent of its sales. 2 billion euros of synergies on a cost and capital expenditure basis. one billion euros of synergies on a revenue basis. it really makes sense for vodafone to acquire a company rather than build out on its own. they're getting their hands on 2 million customers. they're becoming all things to us, really. it is going to be a theme. the have $30 billion-$40 billion. >> it is really happening, isn't it? >> still a bidding war at four

-- still a bidding war for sfr in france. the number one risk to global sentiment right now. ♪

>> time for today's company news. its gass rwe will sell unit. deal's value is about $7.1 billion. germany'scquires kabul deutschland last year. acquired germany's kabel deutschland last year. softbank owns about 37% of alibaba. welcome back to "countdown."

>> it is 14 minutes past seven here in london. an official says nearly 97% of her disappearance in this referendum voted to become part of russia again. joining us now is managing strategy.t spiros how much do you think president putin is going to sacrifice the well-being of his economy for geopolitical aims? is that the key question when we watched the path that the russian ruble has taken? >> that is certainly one of the key questions. crimeanlly, the peninsula was lost to russia weeks ago. crimea has actually become something of a sideshow here. there is an inescapable feeling now that what we are actually seeing is pretty much a

foretaste of things to come. russia is oh -- russia's overriding aim is to make sure that the ukraine, particularly the eastern half, is not drawn to the western fold. russia will annex ukraine if it -- annex crimea if it believes it will give it more leverage over eastern ukraine. the real issue here is that the west has misperceived what is at stake in the ukraine in russia's eyes. >> what is that? >> this is the biggest challenge to russian dominance in the very bloc.f the former soviet

georgia was a shot -- was a sideshow compared to crimea. >> why is it so much more significant? >> this is largely because of national and cultural pride. the size of the economy is important in eastern ukraine where the coal and steel industries are. that is the absolute key. i think it is very important to stress that president putin clearly believes that he can pull this off. that heinly believes has enormous leverage. >> how far is the west prepared to go here? when they look back at the results of this referendum, which they find flawed from the 96% voting in favor of rejoining russia, it may be flawed referendum, but

those are quite compelling statistics. >> well, the results of this new plebiscite was preordained the moment it was called. it is a complete sham. clearly, one of the most important political developments since this crisis flared up has been the fact that germany is now willing to get a lot tougher with -- >> how far does it go, nicholas? bans, whenes, visa the eu and u.s. get serious, we're talking trade and investment sanctions. what you they need to see to impose those sorts of sanctions? >> they are already seeing quite a bit. happens in on what the eastern half of the ukraine.

donetsk and other cities which were unknown to most traders and investors are now very much the focal point. stayed outssia has of those cities, do we not see anything more than visa bans and asset freezes? >> it depends what we mean by actually staying out. i certainly don't expect russia to send in the cavalry, but there is a number of ways in destabilize can ukraine. it is exactly their overriding aim. they want to ensure that the ukraine is -- >> will it unify the rest of ukraine against russia? even if it annexes crimea and wishes into eastern cities like netsk? >> it is certainly unify the western response. that has been lost.

it is absolutely determined to ensure that it reasserts its .nfluence over eastern ukraine >> nicholas, what is the likely endgame here? what is your best guess? >> i think the endgame here unfortunately is that we are not going to get a stable political in thenomic situation ukraine, which is going to make it very difficult for the kind toreforms that ukraine needs undertake. this has almost been -- we have almost not in talking about his. this is an economy that is tanking. straits.dire it is difficult enough to launch radical reforms when you have a more or less stable government with a fairly solid mandate.

this is a country that is being invaded as far as the ukraine is -- >> does the geopolitical tension spread to other parts of europe? other parts that used to be part of the soviet union and have substantial russian speaking populations? >> excellent question. is a fairlyi think, ominous one heard clearly, russia is now going to be flexing its muscles. referendums are going to be called probably in various other parts of the former soviet space with large ethnic russian populations, possibly, but somehow i actually doubt it out. i think right now the focal point is very much eastern ukraine. all eyes are on that area. >> capital flight as well?

>> it has been a serious problem. russia has perceived when the fed let the tapering genie out of the bottle, russian assets, particularly the ruble and russian bonds were relatively resilient. wayside.llen by the >> thank you very much for joining us this morning. nicolas maduro, managing -- >> hotshots is next. ♪

>> welcome back. it is time for hotshots and some of the most compelling images of the day. we reached that time of the year when most people want to be irish, at least for a day. saint hatcks off its tricks date celebration. this tradition dates back to 1962. a baby gorilla was born via c-section at a san diego zoo recently. this is a very rare surgery for animals. the baby was born with a collapsed long, weighing less than five pounds. the tiny gorilla is keeping warm by wearing a blue knit cap made by the veterinarian staff. aspect to the scottish

independence debate. there are six months to go until scotland votes on whether to break away from the u.k.. some shut lenders want independence from scotland itself. anders wanttl independence from scotland itself. coming up, will jimmy choo shares be as easy to sell as the company's shoes? when we come back we will have more on the shoemaker. ♪

>> geopolitical risk front and center. this is how the dollar ruble is trading. dollar up by 1/10 of one percent against the ruble. annex thea move to region? how will the west retaliate. every time this currency move slower, any business with exposure to russia, that currency will eat away at that revenue. elsewhere, euro-dollar, one euro now buys you 1.3839. i leave you with this. if it is revised lower, will the ecb act?

>> i am mark barton in london. a total of 96.7 people in the crimea have voted to leave ukraine and join russia. the u.s. and the eu warned russia not to annex crimea after the referendum. gathering in are brussels now to consider possible sanctions against russia. malaysia is broadening its up heel for a search. they have asked 25 countries to support the mission as the search area now stretches from kazakhstan to the waters off of australia. they are scrutinizing the crew after the established the plane ed almost seven hours after they lost control with their air traffic controllers. george osborne says he plans to boost construction. he told the bbc he will extend the help to buy program.

>> a key part of economic security is being able to afford your own home. our help to buy scheme has helped build new homes. i want to extend the help to buy scheme for newly built houses. in 2016, we to end will now extended to the rest of the decade. that will be 120,000 new homes. >> we will bring you the chancellor's new budget live. 12:30 here on bloomberg on wednesday. >> it is 7:32 here in london. asking prices for homes in london search to a record this month. that is according to latest reports.

miles, great to see you again. record house prices in london, but not uniformly across london. a bit of a dip in some of the more prime regions. >> that is right. arrows droppednd by 1.3% on average. the ripple effect spread to other regions that seemed comparatively good values. i hate to see cheaper, but better values. >> explained the big monthly gain. toone does not want to take much store on monthly figures in some of the smaller boroughs. certainly, if you look at the east london as a whole, and great year on year rises. and othern hackney boroughs. only twoe key things, or three stops from the city of

london or four or five stops from the west end. of 400,000 pounds or 500,000 pounds compared to central london at 2 million pounds. >> prices you're seen in this key wealthy areas, any sense that russian investors or russian residents might be taking money out of the u.k. housing market at all? >> given the turmoil, london is even more of a safe haven. .o hint of that yet obviously it is early days. if you want your money in a safe -- >> let's i think not focus too much on london otherwise we will be pilloried by the rest of the country. it is moving, isn't it? >> it is. it is spring moving season. that starts to unlock the housing markets. this lack of supply that we have seen for the last 12 months, hopefully starting to ease.

nearly 10% more properties coming to market compared to the same month last year. that the mortgage market is helping to unlock. >> is the budget going to be around changes in the construction industry? there could be a lot of houses that impact on your world, couldn't there, miles? >> we have to be careful not to boost the market that is moving already too much. relaxing the stamp duty may be a step too far. is lookingelp to buy to extend. it has been very successful. just coming back to london in a 25 thousand homes -- 25,000 homes being built in a year. helped by doesn't necessarily help london heard long-term funding is required for the housing industry. new gardenre be a

city in can't? their building 120,000 houses. that says yes. through 2020. these are the sorts of projects that you are crying out for? >> is going to be a step change. it needs either one garden city or two or three. >> would you cap help to buy, miles? would you bring down that cap? wax i hate to give a signal to the market that it needs to not get carried away, but certainly by extending it for another three or four years, i would question perhaps 20% equity interest free loans on 20% of the echo lee. it is a fairly large amount. i would look to trim that back, as well as extended third given certainty, but perhaps a taxpayer is funding that 20% five-year loan interest free. that is a huge commitment. >> what with the construction industry need to try and told as many houses as you said just are

required? doing a to look at the way money is put into the construction industry? do we need to look at the planning process? take a more long-term vision? what is the key impediment? >> this is what we have lacked for the last 20 years or more. a long-term housing policy. .ewtown is part of it more social housing as well. not everyone can afford to buy. tosing association funding relaxing funding laws. the government and the home industry have worked well together. looking toward long-term plans that may be a change in government can't change. we want a consistent policy for the next 10 years. record highs for asking prices, where do we had from your? what does your crystal ball tell you for the rest of 2014? >> release pent up demand, more

mortgage money. we think we will stay at that level of six percent to eight are set for the year as a whole. it is a good time to move with stable interest rates and that pent up demand, more choice come to market. it may well be deciding to extend that -- >> interest rates will be stable through the election? >> yes. you can expect a small rise next year, but overall they are still historically low. it looks like the bank of england are going to keep them at low levels. >> thank you, mark. >> 7:38. talkschoo had polymeric -- had preliminary talks. is it considering an ipo. >> is the perfect time to be going public. london is a bit of a retail

party. online have gone up about 40% in the first days. any retailer that wants to fund expansion is definitely considering this. >> the adverts seem to be everywhere on the tube. what would they stand to gain from a sale? >> when they bought this in 2011 they paid over 500 million pounds. now we are hearing that at the mid-void of the valuation range they're are looking at one billion pounds. if you look at other retailers ncler that draws nearly 50% -- that drops nearly 50% of the first day, that is a pretty hefty chunk of money. choo.ers like jimmy they are all looking at expansion in asian, which is really one of the markets where

you see growth right now. i feel like maybe another sector like fine set -- like finance and real estate have artie bought into that story. because of the recession they had not gotten a chance to invest. it is a perfect time for a retailer to come to the market now because investors seem to love them. >> thank you. "countdown," interest rate decisions by the fed. and the new chair, janet yellen. stay with us. ♪

time for today's company news. aresays that february sales up 11% compared to a year earlier. the retailer has nearly 400 more stores than it had this time last year. digital cameras will be fixed at defect wereter detected. aey will do this even after warranties expire. the defects were highlighted in an annual program which

previously targeted apple and volkswagen. jimmy choo owner ux is incks -- label --ks to discuss the possible the possibility of an ipo. catherine ashton is the eu's foreign-policy chief. she is in brussels. she seems to be leaving the meeting. she has made a few comments. she says that eu did have good discussions last night on ukraine heard she said the ukraine situation is equally worrying and she's calling on russia to de-escalate the ukraine situation. >> let's look ahead to what is happening at the top of the hour. "on the move" starts at the top of the hour. joint -- hosts

this program. >> we're seeing european stock index futures up. this is after we saw the biggest drop in about six weeks last week. you're absolutely right. the my sex is gaining -- the micex is gaining. for the moment, dax futures gaining 0.5%. l1 energy agreed to buy once of the subsidiaries. >> the telecom sector as well, vodafone. >> this is a big day, vodafone agreeing to buy the spanish . we know howno much they will save and generate.

boost tv also offerings. we will keep a close eye when the stock opens minutes from now. >> it could be a week for the u.k. construction industry. there will be plenty in there to interest those in the construction sector. we will keep an eye and construction stocks all this week. london property prices bring us something to think about overnight. >> we talk about it quite often, but this is exactly why we are discussing it today. we want to put it into context. asking prices for homes in london surged to a record this month. will, 80% of the ones we surveyed are asking the chancellor to curtail his help to buy stimulus. we will follow that very closely as well. of course, we will have the headlines on malaysian airplane still missing and crimea. >> plenty to focus on. mark, back to you. >> if it is monday, there has to

be some m&a. >> merger monday. vodafone does it again. they bought kabul deutschland in germany last year. kabel deutschland last year. we are not making calls and text with their mobile phones as much because we can use skype and >> app -- and whatsapp. they also want to get in our homes. vodafone wants to provide our internet. they want to be on our smart television and providing us with cable. they want to provide everything, that is why they're getting into cable companies. that is why they're splashing 7.2 billion euros. ono has access

to 7.2 million homes. vodafone is paying about an thousand euros per home to have access to. are going to be significant, about 3 billion euros. >> is why his deal make sense. >> they already had exposure to spain. they want to ramp up their nine percent. >> they have got the money, haven't they? >> they have 30 or $40 billion. some of that money went back to the shareholders. based dell have $30 billion or $40 billion of spending our. >> who is next in spain? been touteds have as potential inquiries. >> competition is rising. >> let's, caroline.

focus on the macro agenda for the weekend. jonathan ferro joins us with a look ahead. the fed or the budget? >> this year could deliver three percent growth. this could be about the policy for recovery. let's have an analogy. after years of rain, the sun has started to shine. do you carry on fixing the roof or do you get out the sun lounges? do you carry on austerity or do you deliver tax breaks. over the weekend there was a big debate about what they're going taxo with that 40 pence band. this is a huge issue. when nigel lawson introduced that back in the 80's, one in 20 paid that figure. now it is one in six. es is intended to tax the rich. now a lot of people are being taxed, so it is anything but. >> george osborne's weight loss plan over the weekend. apparently he is undersized to diet. i wonder if austerity in the

kitchen is going to feature. >> he is lost a bit of his chin, you are showing me earlier. to get on well. >> crystal ball, 10 billion reduction. discuss --n has to we expect them to take a qualitative stance away from the quantitative threshold. >> away from linking it to unemployment and inflation. >> it is back to old-school central banking. >> where did it all go, john? >> i don't know. >> our next guest says that u.k. supermarkets will be the stock to watch this week. we will find out why. ♪

>> welcome back to "countdown." i'm mark barton. >> is 7:53 here in london. let's look at what is coming up later in the week. it is going to be a week where we focus on the supermarkets, isn't it? >> is going to be that sort of week with the budget coming up.

the question is really when -- and tesco dominating the sector. >> asia-pacific equities down. pointing to gains in europe and the u.s.. stocks are rising. what is going on? they sell ont is the rumor and by on the fact rule. the question is, what to the major powers do in the wake of this result? to the u.s. and europe go all out against russia in sanctions or do they take a softer approach? the questions are, and to think they will go for out and out opposition against russia or a more nuanced position accepting that that crimea is no longer part of the ukraine? what will be the reaction to

these developments? around some ofbe the more commodity-based companies? >> i think you would look for those with more exposure to russia. we're looking at germany, especially. we now -- we know that the germans are not keen on pushing the russians too hard. >> said, tuesday and wednesday, chris. more tapering. any surprises in the offing or not? >> i wish i could say we expect did this, but that is the nature of the thing heard really no change expected. tapering to continue as planned. the question is how the weather has affected the u.s. economy over recent weeks. janet yellen has been at pains to say how much. >> chris, thank you very much.

for would do it "countdown." on the move is next. ♪

>> welcome to on the move. we are moments away from the start of european trading and our markets team is everything covered, from companies to currencies. ryan chilcote, jonathan ferro. let's kick off with you. ministers are meeting today. what are we expecting in the ministers? we are expecting the ministers to freeze the assets of a number of russian officials

and bar them from traveling to the european union. do not think the eu ministers will target members of the russian business community, as many speculated and we cannot see any appetite to impose economic sanctions on russia. there are five conversations that i had with four ministers and the goal is to sway present prudent from going further. >> thank you so much. you are following the market reaction. >> futures are higher in europe. you had the selloff and you knew crimea would go this way and join russia. when or will russia annexed the region? how does the u.s. retaliated with sanctions? that is based