gift the best sleep only at a sleep number store. save $500 on the veteran's day special edition mattress with sleepiq technology, plus 36- month special financing. hurry, ends wednesday! know better sleep with sleep number. anna: singles day in china, as the nation looks to retail sales, alibaba makes $9 billion. we speak to the founder, jack ma, later today. ousting the nation's prime minister, the president is forced to decide investor fallout. miller isooming, sab taking a step closer to the biggest merger in brewing history. will seal thethey deal.

welcome to the program, everybody. this is countdown live from bloomberg headquarters here in london. it is 6:00 here in london. let us bring you up to speed. we have data out of china, just to tell you that it has not moved the market all that much. we saw a bit of a bounce in the shenzhen composite, the shanghai not moving that far. estimates,line with industrials up. that is the macro picture. keep an eye on a micro level, if you like. it is not very micro, but what could be the biggest brewing deal in history. i have a chart here on the sab miller share price, what a wild ride it has been on during the summer. we saw talk of the potential deal them. inbev has a -- deadline to move the number of times. the latest is today, and we have

had news over the last 24 hours suggesting that they might get closer to that -- perhaps removing the regulatory hurdles on the u.s. business. we will have more from ryan chilcote through the program. we are getting numbers from carlsberg. >> we are of course looking here at the world's fourth biggest brewer. looking at russia, a challenge to carlsberg -- struggling offset the cost cuts. the headline number is a clear beat. we are coming in with third quarter items at 3.4 7 billion kroner versus an estimate of 3.11 billion kroner. alsois the beat of sales, up 18.3 billion danish krone are versus 17.9 billion. we are seeing though that

four-year organic profits are lower than previously seen. but carlsberg seeing organic singleoperating by a digit percentages. earnings are a beat, couple of warnings there. but it is reaching its full four-year forecast. it issued a profit warning in the last quarter. sharen the earnings, prices of about 13% this year. you will see how it performs in the open. anna: more news breaking, deutsche bank giving up numbers. it seems profits plunged 17%. the cost of a software project that went wrong. we knew about that, though. they told us they were booking euro around the failed software project. he told us that last month. we get confirmation of that today in the numbers. forecast2015 profit

for the second time on october 28. we get more details on the numbers, though. and more of the context, where does this leave the company? will they take any action against the companies that provided the software, what alternative do they have? how did that didn't there ambitions -- dent there ambitions? we will talk to the ceo, later on during countdown, and around 40 minutes time i believe. we mentioned the chinese data that was out. we had a mixed day, around half an hour ago. shery ahn.o sherri shery: quite a mixed picture, investors quite cautious ahead of that flurry of data out of china. we saw industrial production growing by 5.6% in october, missing estimates for third month. we now see the shanghai composite losing half a percent, declining for the second consecutive day. retail a beating estimates,

growing 11% year on year. the shopping extravaganza in china in the form of a singles day. hand saying moving -- the hand saying moving -- the hang seng index moving. but it is now trading at a highest, a close of the highest level since august. also reversing earlier losses that we saw in the morning in early trade today. finishing unchanged, of course after declining after four session. that is back to 100, a gained a half of a percent there. confidence consumer survey. saythey are easing again to the least in october. we saw a number growing only 3.9%.

aussieant to take at the dollar, china is the largest trading partner. the industrial output data and the regional sales data have not really impacted the currency much there. it gained before the data was out. it also was up 8/10. yen alsoese strengthening today. gaining 2/10 of a percent there. and we are hearing from macro currency group saying that the strengthening, given the rising volatility. that has outpaced the dollar. some of the movers i want to take you through today. trading at a record low, look at that. a plunge of 7%. it could drop as much as 50% year on year. recordthird quarter

profits, gaining only 2% there today. hon hai losing 1.3%. october sales rose more than 7%. i'm looking at them because they are an apple supplier. isse saidt suiteu orders had weekend. akend. anna: let's get more detail on china. it match the weakest gain since the global credit crisis. accelerated, and this underscores the gradual shift in the economy towards greater reliance on computer spending. today is also singles day in china, an online shop up on which has seen alibaba make $5 billion in sales during the first 90 minutes. let us get a look at the data with our beijing bureau chief. talk us through the production myth, how significant is that number now?

data today was largely in line with expectations. industrial production is a very important number, along with success and investment is at its lowest since 2000. it really confirms what we thought we knew about the chinese economy. drivers, therowth thing that is interesting here is what is absent. the numbers are largely in line with what they were in the previous quarter. of course, during that time, the government has made a lot of effort to stimulate the economy -- cutting interest rates, blowing the reserve requirement. so today's data being smooth and steady, in line with expectations, it would suggest those efforts to stimulant the economy have not kicked in yet or are not working. and that may open the door for more stimulus later on early next year. anna: this comes at a time when you said that the chinese authorities are try to rebalance the story away from industrial

more towards retail. update us on the retail picture. the retail sales largely in line with estimates, again, confirming what we know -- that this is an economy that is more on the back of consumers. is exactly how the government wants it. we do anticipate more stimulus efforts to boost loan growth in the coming months. what would suggest putting even more emphasis on consumers getting spending, getting companies to spend. we only had to grow. anna: net, thank you very much. our beijing bureau chief, and speaking of retail sales growing, let us turn to the topic of single day. alibaba's mission control. that is what they call it. good morning to you. sales have artie surpassed last year -- have already surpassed last year. how will the sales phenomenon

that a single day go this year? reporter: it absolutely has been a phenomenon. we are in the nerve center, if you want to call it that. all morning, we have been kicked out -- they're bringing in a bunch of the vips around the country. we are outside the water cube, if you remember that from the beijing olympics. beyond that, the birds nest -- the iconic stadium. alibaba brought it here to push him the message that this is the new economy. and boy, have a numbers been really quite staggering. 9.3 billione have u.s. dollars we surpassed that before we even hit the halfway mark today. morning into the 24 hour shopping extravaganza, alibaba surpassing totally

amount of goods sold online. we have a long ways to go. some economists and analysts in the space expect it could go as high as 12 billion u.s. dollars over this 24 hour period. jack ma is probably smiling. and the consumers around the world will be smiling as they get their presents, or maybe not. this is a big logistics marathon, if you will. i have some numbers. 1.7 million deliveryman are out and about in china. 200,000vehicles and airplanes are being used. i think this is the start of something big. what do younk -- think? think we need james bond to help. i say this because i know there is celebrity there. a lot is being made of the

significance of moving this event to beijing, taking a close to the seat of government. reporter: that is right. let us face it, alibaba is a private enterprise. they came from the province down in the south of shanghai, coastal and very entrepreneurial. a big company. it is not a big state-owned into. but it is a national champion. what jack ma has done is bringing it to beijing, really the center of power. and representing china, but he has done it quite intelligently. because this is their key rivals home base. he is taking it to jd.com and taking it to the media capital of china. i am here. all of the other media, this is where they are getting the big attention. and at least in the first 12 hours, now 14, it seems to have paid off. numbers are really quite

staggering. they sold a billion dollars worth of goods in the first eight minutes. $5 billion in the first 18 minutes. always halfway through the day on last year's total. anna: what do you do if you are not single? you buyers of the gift anyway? emily chang will sit down a to hearaba's jack m just how much the day means to him. and how the share price is not as pretty as it has been over the past year. here that conversation at 2:30 p.m. london time. let us consider the chinese? broadly. o'sullivan is here and he joins us now, good morning to you. of course, china cannot be far from your thoughts as we watch what happened over the summer with a roller coaster -- the

central banks of the world were working out how weak the growth story would get. they're trying to reinvent themselves in the retail mold. how worried are you of this point? jack ma phenomenon shows what is driving chinese society. the search of lifestyle and consumer behavior, we publish the credit suisse report every year. and of the 6 billion adults in the world, we know about 109 million chinese would classify as middle class. were not there 10 years ago. anna: that is the gross story. michael: they have average 150 thousandto dollars, higher than many european countries. and they are driving all of these consumer trends. i think the picture in china to an outsider is quite complex, if

you look at the manufacturing side, it is bleak. a lot of these companies have oversupply. we are seeing profits and recession in china, margins are beginning to contract quite badly. and i find that looking at china and talking to people, they have very strong views on china. some believe that the 7% growth target, others are more bearish when they look at china. they see spain, ireland, maybe seven or eight years ago. and it may someday turn bad. but i think that what you just towed, there is a transition a what i think is a consumer-led economy. that seems to be pretty noisy. anna: it is noisy. is then there preowned of them putting them in the middle-class growth story. talking about their asian beer market this morning, saying that growth has slowed considerably.

and that is china-led. even some brands that could cast themselves as middle class struggle. michael: don't forget the carlsberg was hit by russia. one of the areas where they have been hurt is all of these emerging markets, focusing on the western brand companies. last year, european ones were hit by russia. and a lot of them have come off quite sharply on what is happening in china. i think the consumer trend in china will continue. i think we will continue to digest quite weak headline metho manufacturing growth next year. anna: is the data keeping up with a change? some optimists, you might like to call them on the story, if the growth is not reflected in the numbers, maybe there's a chance that the growth is in places -- but it is not being picked up in the old-fashioned surveys. does that hold water with you?

michael: to answer your question, i think the data is not keeping up to date in the sense that a lot of people question the quality of the data. first of all, and the other sources of data you could say the individual company's share may be a better indicator. few people really believe in the headline gdp numbers. they are a way of parsing the whole company. i think policy is important. what we have seen last three months, the chinese authorities have added individual and quite rules, they have not done it out right stimulus. maybe taking a long view in a tactical view. anna: michael o'sullivan from credit suisse. we will get u.k. unemployment numbers at 9:30 london time.

we will get bank of england's inflation report, could give us any clues about a rate rise? 45, european union and african leaders begin a summit on the migrant crisis. we will also watch governor mark carney speak at 9:00 u.k. time. that is followed by mario draghi from the ecb, speaking at 1:15 london time. plenty on the central bank watcher calendar. we would take a short break. up next, portugal's government is toppled six weeks after the election. lisbon,ive in looking at how this could topple the bond market. when we come back. ♪

anna: welcome back. time in london is 21 minutes past 6:00. here are the stories you need to

know. closed whenever an agreement to of the jointr venture for about $12 billion. that is according to a person familiar with the discussion. the deal would lift one major obstacle for inbev. takeover,6 billion that is ahead of the 5:00 p.m. deadline for the agreement. lufthansa has lost a court bid to end the strike. forcing the airline to cancel nearly 1000 flights today. union callsn crew for three more days of strikes through friday, saying it was considering lengthening the walkout. 100,000 customers will be affected today. portugal's prime minister is been forced froom power, less than six months after the election. the socialist formed a majority to reject his plan.

the socialist leader antonio back someges to roll of the austerity measures. let us get more on that. joining us now from lisbon, good to have you on the program. on the vote yesterday, how would it actually take to get a new government in place? i understand a lot of power is in the president's hand? reporter: that is right. there is no set timing in the constitution for this part of the process. the president gets to set the timing. he does have wide discretion on what happens next. and he does have to meet each of the parties before announcing a decision. like you said, the socialists say they can form a minority government. the president cannot -- he cannot appoint a socialist p.m. or he could allow the caretaker capacity for longer. he cannot find the prime minister elsewhere, but one thing to keep in mind, no early

elections can be held until they may or june of next. he is a deal with the parliament as is to find a solution. anna: i understand the socialists would have a smaller coalition. how stable might as socialist government actually be? and what are the policy changes that this potential change in leadership has talked about being? reporter: they don't have a coalition, the socialists. there the second-biggest party, but what they would have is a minority government. they have an even smaller minority than the coalition they just ousted. but they claim that three other left-wing parties would support them in important votes in parliament. in terms of policy changes, they want to narrow the budget deficit slightly -- more slowly than the coalition did. so that is the austerity measure, and a big question is

whether the left-wing parties would back then, would they have to impose more fiscal tightening then they would like to? so will this be, you know, sustainable over the full mandate -- the full four years? that is the question. they claim so. but we have to see how some of t is.upport is gr usa: michael sullivan, let continue the discussion. i have a chart that shows the 10-year yield, the measure of nervousness around the portuguese government story. we are not really high up there, are we? we have a 10-year yield around 2.7% back in the heady days of 2012. we are talking to be more like 17%. michael: i see a little blip in june when you were worried about greece. there are still tensions between

the greek government and the people formerly known as a troika. it is not clear if we have a socialist government, that will be important for the banks and the business community. as regards austerity, i think that some of the papers and that peopleis clear andhe head of the eu except maybe went too far with austerity. the implication was too fast and too hard. anna: on the left in europe? michael: i think they will read what is happening to portugal, with regard there is a possibility you get a similar situation in spain. i think you have status quo in spain once we get through the elections. and it seems that the rise of -- anna: michael stays with us.

up next, we get the business numbers after the break. stay with us. ♪

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it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around. welcome back. it is 6:30 in london. here are the stories you need to know. industrial output slowed in october to match the weakest gain since the global credit crisis, but retail sales rise more than economists thought. it shows a greater reliance on consumer spending, as slow growth engines folder. close to announcing an agreement to buy the sab miller portion, for about $12 billion. that is a warning to a person familiar. one of the major obstacles for v, that is ahead of the

deadline today for an agreement. the world's fourth-largest brewer, says it will cut jobs to reduce costs by 2018. about 1300 employees have been notified, and they will cut staff by 15%. we're just getting breaking news from germany. let us get the details on e. on. >> looking at the biggest utility company, we are looking at net income -- that is coming in at a miss. versus 995 andos estimates. the operating environment remains very difficult. it is a very challenging time for german utilities with a shift toward renewables in germany. thes hard for companies,

share price actually declined about 35% this year. it is one of the worst performers on germany's dax index. coming in at a miss, it is confirming its four-year outlook. and the timetable for transformation, e.on also forecast, that headline number has come in as a miss. back to you. anna: sticking with the german story, we have numbers from the maker of percel. giving us an update on that is cuttingenkel their four-year organic sales growth from 5% down to 3%. still seeing four-year adjusted numbers at about 16%. they're changing the forecast, but not others. the organic sales growth is bringing back down.

this is heavily influenced by the china and emerging growth market stories. we heard about a cost-cutting plan, the cut 1200 jobs. asia was bearing the brunt of that, interesting to hear what they say about the emerging markets. at the moment, it seems they are trimming that sales growth forecast rate that will be the headline story to come through there. it is not just chinese companies getting involved in singles day. some of europe's biggest retailers are jumping in, too. using the opportunity to get a tebow in -- a toe in. give us an idea of who is involved, which of the european retailers will dip? are companies that are a bit more involved, but this year, we have european gross, metro and selling these

little food bundles, which are surprising that they are selling cartons of milk. they have. not what you may 1 think. anna: amazing. not a long shelf life. charles: i don't think it is fresh. into the quality of milk. it is very easy and china. milkes: it is german shipped halfway across the world. i'm just wondering, would we be better off without black friday? in many cases, therefore to discount, as well. michael: if you go into china now, it is actually a moment to get publicity. it does have an international theme this year. so you are on the front page.

and it does get you known in a way that perhaps would not be. what retailers are doing now are balancing the customer acquisition costs with the sort of logistical issues that you are raising. and the cost of doing it. anna: look at a business like sainsbury. they are selling tea and porridge. charles: people who are opening stores in china, tesco opened stores and then sold them at quite a big loss, this is another way of getting into china. it is pretty low-cost, low risk. it might be a nice little business. and if it isn't, it will not have cost the much. anna: because it is on the online side. speaking more broadly, trolls, we get the numbers from the cfo later.

20%, 300down about million. but they are ready signaled in the trading statement that actually, this is the sort of and of the dip in profits for the second half. they should be flat year on year. what was a bit of a surprise. for the first time in a very long time, a supermarkets profit estimate take up. some of the latest data there shows the increasing share. thank you very much, charles. michael o'sullivan stays with us. in fact, let's hear little bit of what michael's boss, the ceo of credit suisse, sees in the dramatic global market. in an interview with bloomberg, he told us it was quite likely a hike what impact on the real economy, as well as financials. >> we have been risking our

position, reducing our pollution. frankly, it is quite likely that at the end of all of this period of relatively traumatic events -- francine: dramatic how? be real effects on the economy in the real world. as a financial services company, we have to position ourselves quite defensively. francine: but you think a big negative event is on the horizon? >> every time and markets, when you go from a high rate to a low rate environment, or from a low to high environment, the question worth addressing is the number of people have not made any plans for the transition. and they are unprepared. o'sullivan also

is stillit suisse with us. the markets not prepared? michael: wise words, indeed. we got a taste of that this summer. i think what he is referring to, you get regimes. where the central balance sheets and expanded, maybe suppressing volatility. and people have become used to a world where volatility is maybe too low or very very, low. y low. when they got a change in the margins this summer, when investors portfolios changed to ,hat and to a new volatility you saw the violence in the market. and i think you will see the same in these economies. and a lot of people have, let's say the u.k. in the u.s., they have mortgages now at very low

rates. in one years time, if they grow up 3%, the incremental impact on the balance sheets versus income spending will actually be quite big. it is really a question of adjustment, and where people ask are exposed to this? anna: if you don't even remember the rate cycle -- michael: i think we had more certainty from the fed. the committee case in as been very poor, janet yellen has not been very clear. and the various and disparate speeches of the members have not given a single message at all. but she together with stanley fischer and dudley a few weeks ago have now planted the flag in december. and they haven't helped now with the payroll.

i think it is a 100% likely we have a rate increase in september. otherwise, they will face massive inability problems. anna: the rate hike does seem to be with the market is expecting. if we're looking at financial events, a tense moment in the markets, where will that manifest itself? do you think we can look at the bond market? i know you are focusing on the two-year over in the u.s.. it has given us a few false alarms. michael: i guess the story of the summer has been a really big position on the dollar has. look at markets, i look at areas where big decisions have been built up. you had a big, long position in the markets and the short end of the car. any rise has been met with any

low, and is beginning to unwind. that will be similar to look for for volatility. in terms of scary stories before bedtime, i do think that fixed income and credit as well will be a concern into next year. credit may be covered by governance because with all the issues we had and bond markets, where relative and midcycle stage -- in traditional terms in the cycle -- i think all of the issues in the low qualities of some of that issuance makes me a little more worried. issue.is a corporatea anna: then we will see even more corporate issuance. and a number of voices have been saying they are worried that because tanks have stepped away from market-making, if we do see a run away from corporate credit, there could be an issue in the markets. they might not function, might not be the backstop from the

banking sector they once were. michael: their function has a much bigger spread, much greater volatility. and one of the things in the equity markets in the last two years has been this wave. and the balance sheets and health care that you mentioned. , and alsoose sectors some of the emerging countries and the corporate debt in those markets, those with the areas of focus on. anna: michael o'sullivan stays with us longer on the program. 6:42 in london. fromeak to the cfo live bonn. rosenl ask him, lawrence from deutsche post. ♪

anna: welcome back. 6:45 in london. and i say that because deutsche

post plunged after the german delivery company that 345 million euros on the software project, and taxes fell to 197 million euros. the company's cfo, lawrence rosen, joins us from headquarters in bonn. larry, great to see you. thanks for coming on. let us deal with the subject of the software you had to write down. it's all of the bad news around the software in the market. if the business able to move on from this? lawrence: absolutely. you know, thanks for having me. and good morning. we did announce already on october 28 that we would take this right down, that we would have a new approach to the i.t. renewal and transformation in our global forwarding business. and we absolutely feel like it

has been the right decision. the business is headed in the right direction. the organization is highly motivated. we feel like we have a great approach now for the i.t. renewal and the overall transformation, so we are very positive about where we are with the global forwarding business. this problemh has with the software dampened your abilities to progress in the global forwarding? arena you had some goals and ambitions, as is taken the edge of your performance? lawrence: i think the original objectives that needed to become much more efficient, and we needed to find ways to provide even better customer service, are still absolutely valid. so yes, we have been slowed down by the difficulty we have had with the initial approach. but we feel like we are absolutely on the right track with a new approach.

and that we will get their step-by-step over the next couple of years. and eventually, the benchmark performer in terms of efficiency , and also be able to provide a great service and great differentiation from the other players in the industry, in terms of our customer service. anna: have you worked out what you're going to do with your i.t. from here? larry, will you seek compensation from the company that provided the software in the first place? lawrence: one of the alternatives that we still have is that the original approach would be modified. so that he could meet the new requirements that we have to grow step-by-step and have a more evolutionary approach. so it is still possible we would use parts, if not all of them of the system that has been developed. the likelihood, however, is that

we will have a different approach -- with again, step-by-step approach. breed will use best in software, software are ready being used successfully in the industry. and it will not be as integrated an approach as we had originally. so we are very positive about the way forward, and we feel like it is the right approach for us now. anna: tell me about the underlying business, and particular, what can you tell us about the strength of the asian markets at the moment? a lot of concern about the chinese story there. lawrence: we are fairly constructive about the chinese market, and overall, the emerging markets are a couple of exceptions. you know, certainly growth has slowed down in asia overall. thatn china, we feel like

it is not slipping into recession. it is still growth in the 6.5% range. it is still quite good. on a worldwide comparative basis, we remain very much committed to china and to the emerging markets. and we think that the near future and midterm are going to be excellent for us, because we have such a great network and position in the emerging markets. anna: you are committed to emerging markets? how committed are you to the u.k.? is goingion of brexit to hang over many businesses are the next year or two. how are you viewing this, will this change the way you are doing business at all? lawrence: i think it is too early to say what the impacts of brexit could be for us.

however, the u.k. is a vitally important market for us. it is one of the two biggest markets and the roots of our supply chain business. it is very important for our express business and global forwarding business, as well. so we will remain completely committed to the u.k. regardless if there is brexit or not. what the exact impact will be, and i think it is too early to say. anna: are you contingency planning at all, larry? lawrence: at this time, we are not. i think the likelihood, if there would be a brexit, it would come in 2017. i think you'll have plenty of time to do contingency planning. and in any case, the u.k. will remain extremely important for us. and it will be a major participant in the statistics business and the u.k.. anna: interesting, thank you for

talking to us this morning. larry rosen, the ceo of deutsche post -- of post. with the deadline expiring at 5:00 in the evening, let us get more with bloomberg's ryan chilcote. what is a likelihood of this happening today? ryan: it could happen the day because we are hearing that it is possible that sab miller may a steak instake -- miller coors. that is the second largest in the united states, 27% of the beer market there. ab inbev ,ion to if they were not to dispose of it, and they were to be acquired -- the combined entity will have a whopping 72% of u.s. market

share. most analysts and lawyers agree that is untenable. so this disposal is seen as key, v is to go forward with the acquisition of sab miller. we heard from someone yesterday that the deal is all but set to be announced today. there have been whispers for a good week now. coors, whichmolson owns the other percentage, they were established in 2008, and they have the first right of refusal. they would buy the 58% from sab miller for $12 million. that would clear the way. the reason this would happen atay, just last week, inbev the takeover panel for another week -- which expires today at 5 p.m. to complete negotiations and arrangements with sab miller to take the deal forward. there are many people expected 7:00 wearly as

could get an announcement. vnna: what would maybe inbe and sab miller mean for carlsberg? ryan: more pressure. it would have a lot more competitor to deal with, if the sab miller and ab inbev together. they're already facing problems russia,e, especially and with microbreweries. anna: we talked a bit about brewing, let's talk about brexit. we heard from larry rosen, they're not contending with brexit. and we hear that from a number of businesses, the nuance that siemens put on it was that they will not pull out of the u.k. but it might influence future decisions. it is a conversation that has a

long time horizon, the whole story. michael: it is accident-prone. a fix, ifen there is it does go against the membership, i think it could cause a shock. i am somewhat unconvinced so far by the arguments, by the campaign of the parties, the debate really has to get going. think i in the u.k., i would rather the u.k. stay in and play a much more forceful role in the eu. i think that is the part that is maybe missing. instead of mr. cameron's letter of demand, i think it will be interesting for him to get a sense of how the u.k. can be more of a leader within the eu. maybe steer the eu away from these perennial crises. anna: and this is going to weigh on the pound and the next year's?

michael: i think the balance will draw the pound higher. obviously, there will be. periods where they have to worry about brexit. for the bank of england will not be far behind the fed. mr. carney as look at all of the things, but i think eight months ago, he was crying out about a rate increase. he is changed his tune on that. but i think the economy is strong enough. in the labor market is probably stronger than that in the u.s. i think we got labor data out today, or this week. so i think the bank of england will not be far behind the fed. those two economies are effectively moving in trade. anna: and you think that the press the pound higher? michael: yes. anna: up next, moments away from the earnings.

we will bring you all the details from that, and we bring interview with john rogers. all of that in the mix with john, stay with us. ♪

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anna: rebalancing act. alibabaales rise, as makes more than $9 billion in 12 hours. we speak to the founder later today. austerity falls. portugal's opposition. the president is forced to decide. a mega-deal brewing. sab miller is said to be near a the biggest merger and brewing history. eal roughly $120 billion deal.

alert welcome to "countdown." i'm anna edwards. welcome to the second hour of the program. plenty of news expected to break this morning. we are looking for an update from the u.k. retailers and we will bring you those numbers as soon as we get them. in terms of the markets, the handover was next. w -- was mixed. you can see where it says 9 .21, we are expecting to see euro stocks open higher. --ktalk is reporting numbers just how much of a comment are they giving us on the hacking? nejra: we do have a headline on that, talks on the cyberattacks at 30 million pounds to 35 million pounds. this happened about three weeks

ago, a couple teenagers arrested in connection, although they customersumber of cost of had been limited. half coming first in at 90 million pounds versus an estimate of 110 million pounds, a bit of a miss. this, of course, is a u.k. company that makes it expensive broadband packages, and its share price is down 25%. anna: let's get to those numbers from sainsbury's. in terms of the numbers, they look to have been estimates, 308 million against an estimate of 204 million. they are looking forward to a successful christmas, and they also say they are on track to deliver 500 million pounds of cost the things over the next three years, with savings around 225 million pounds by the end of

this financial year. a competitive environment out there, tesco trying to give something of a comeback, and how is it competing with the ongoing discounters? plenty more to talk to the cfo about when we talk to him in a little while. the subject of brexit -- what does that make to a business like his? is the living wage -- how that being factored into the business? they are trying to get a slice of the single stay action in china as well. talking of china, let's get to the asian market and see how asian markets are performing -- shery ahn is standing by. shery. shery: good morning.

asian benchmark indexes currently rising, but the picture looks pretty mixed. the shanghai composite was trading in negative territory through most of the session, but look at that -- it managed to finish 3/10 of 1% higher. it moved between gains and withs, and china data industrial production growing only 5.6% year on year, slowing for a second month. estimates,s did beat growing 11% in october. mentioned, that shopping bonanza is taking place today, the hunt saying index unchanged at -- the hunang seng index unchanged at the moment. the nikkei was almost trading lower in the morning but they managed to trade higher, rising for a fifth consecutive day even when analyst said we were seeing

overheating. is unfinished and unchanged after climbing for or consecutive sessions, the asx gaining .5%. consumer confidence data there is showing that they're actually declining slightly, the aussie dollar currently looking like this. back to you. anna: shery ahn joining us from hong kong. china's industrial output matched the weakest gazes the global credit crisis while cr edit data accelerated, underscoring the greater shift in the economy. that comes as china marks single day, the biggest online shopping event of the chinese calendar. stephen engle is at mission control. good to see you. sales have artie surpassed last year's record and we are only part of the way through the day. how higher these numbers going to go?

blow us away. stephen: yeah, they are big numbers, and alibaba loves to tell them to stop it really does emphasize this phenomenon that they created six years ago, turning what was an e-commerce event into a global extravaganza. you mentioned -- they surpass last year's record in about half the amount of time today, 11:450 this morning, under 12 hours into the cycle. they surpass that 57.1 billion yuan. we are not inside right now because they are shuffling in a bunch of diplomat, but that's ok. it's cold in there as well. exact number the right now and we will go back in and get an update, but i can guarantee you it has surpassed last year's record.

many of the retail analysts we spoke to expect or say it could usd. high as $12 billion that would be surpassing it by $3 billion. and emphasizes that china is switching to a more consumer led economy, a services let economy, rather than the old, reliable manufacturing and export led economy. it's kind of cool -- $1 billion of sales and eight minutes, $5 billion in an hour and a half, now more than $9 billion. anna: did you get me a gift? that's not the point, is it. a lot has been made of the significance of moving this event to beijing. you have been thrown out because the dignitaries are arriving, and that is the point of this. they wanted to put this into the eye line of government.

yeah.n: beijing is where the foreign media are, wher cctv is headquartered. in china, you have to be where the government is to cover china. they moved it here, and this is aprivate company, but it is huge company now and it is kind of a national champion whether they want to be or not. they have come back to the capital to bring it from their base in the coastal region to a much higher profile event. also they are taking it to the headquarters, the home base of their chief rival. they are taking it to jd and bring it to beijing, getting higher profile, and at least on one day it paid off by beating the record in half the time. anna: and they have called on james bond as well, have a day? as though your presence was not

enough. daniel craig is there. stephen, thank you very much. stephen engle at alibaba mission control. cpm london time -- emily chang will sit down with jack ma. don't miss that conversation. , the ceo to our guest of armstrong investment management, joining us now. great to have you here. we are looking at this single day in china. is this another illustration of how they are trying to re-orientate the economy away e industrial growthee story? how convinced our unit that is possible? : when you look at the fact that they bought this six months ago, the government has been actively trying to work on stimulating the consumer to start spending more. engaging, we know that

the man who went for infrastructure -- these are great news for the domestic consumer in china. they are thinking -- this is sustainable? bel it be's -- will it sufficient? it has proven to be a success and the question is how sustainable will it be? anna: yes. so away from this one-day event, how sustainable is this reorientation? are you concerned about the level of indebtedness that they are going to rack up, if this going to be the push for growth? annams. armstrong: absolutely. a security program that will make people more

comfortable, that their pensions or put in line, that health care is something they can rely on. they can be more comfortable to spend. it will probably take some more it is inever i think the right direction. anna: and the one child policy --that has had such a long you have to wait a long time to see the impact on that. is it off your radar? ms. armstrong: being a mother of three i can they that it will encourage as expanding. obviously that is another initiative to both the spending. anna: what about the company if you look at, ana, and their growth in china? we reported on a number of and aies, carlsberg, european company talking about that lower chinese picture. are you seeing that a lot of

companies you are covering? ms. armstrong: definitely most companies are not going to be china proof when it comes to the chinese slowdown. on the other hand, when it comes to the chinese consumer, consuming more goods, many of the companies, having into the chinese market successfully, can benefit from ongoing progress, the fact that tesco and sainsbury's are perceived as luxuries. they have positions in shopping centers -- it is an event, in many asian countries, to go to tesco and visit the votto store. -- the lotto store. many, it is a national bank. it can be one of the most profitable -- anna: it's amazing how a chinese rounding error can be such a significant item. which are the businesses you are

excited about? what are you focused on? ms. armstrong: clearly, the chinese consumer is one of the ongoing themes. european companies are well-positioned for digital markets. these will be the winners over the next 18 months. looking at some of the european companies as well, we could see that quite a few have suffered because of the slowdown. some of the companies can be quite interesting at this point, areclearly, quite a few evolving around the chinese consumer. anna: we will delve further into these topics and ought in a moment. ana, thank you very much. not just chinese companies taking part in single day. we will get the low down on the european names getting involved,

next. we will bring you an interview with sainsbury's cfo, john rogers. how does the competitive landscape look? ♪

anna: welcome back. 7:17. here are the stories you need to know this morning. carlsberg says it will cut about 2000 jobs as it seeks to reduce annual costs by $288 million by 2018. about 13 employees -- about 1300 employees have been noted aifie. mold cores close to announcing for a joint venture in $20 billion. lift one of the major obstacles for ab inbev in buying sab miller.

says profit in the first nine months of the year phil ernie percent as it wrote down power generation assets of 8.3 billion euros. is dealing utility with consistently low prices for wholesale electricity and other commodities. growth of sainsbury's says it is on track to deliver 500 million pounds of cost savings. that news came as it announced third-quarter profits that marginally beat estimates. let's bring in charles allen and ana armstrong, still with us. charles, a key take away from these sainsbury's numbers? charles: there are a couple encouraging things -- it is up 1.6%, and equally, there is volume growth st. we are actually seeing people andng a little bit more,

this suggests that the long cycle of people buying less because they can waste less is beginning to come to an end. anna: interesting. we will bear those thoughts in mind as we bring in the cfo. john rogers joins us now from the london stock exchange -- great to see you. tell us a little bit about the youress and in particular plans for cost reductions -- where will they come from? it has performed very well over the last x month, reporting numbers that were flat but significantly ahead of many of our peers. we have also delivered profits slightly ahead of expectations as well. theall, the performance for isst half -- part of that that we delivered cost savings slightly better than we expected, and those cost savings go across the board. we have done restructuring in

our stories, we have invested in bills,s, electricity lower than it was the previous half. we also invested in stock checking procedures and inventory procedures, all of which has resulted in a beat in expectations for the full year, which is a pleasing overall performance. anna: this is an industry that has been ravaged by price deflation and a lot of the discounters can't be ignored. where are we in that price deflation story? mr. rogers: well, we have seen price deflation over the last half of -2%. we probably exited the half with slightly less deflation, so in that sense this is proving slightly, but how far forward it continues is difficult to predict. i would certainly say we will be

seeing deflation rate through the remainder of this financial year. it should in theory improve slightly over time, but time will tell. anna: i know you will tell me that you are focusing on the sainsbury's business, but just a word about the competitive environment to wave in the discount. tesco is trying to take serious action to reinvigorate their business. more sons tried to turn around. how much are the efforts by those companies to hang onto their market share -- how much is that evident for you in the sector? it's clearlywell, always been an incredibly competitive marketplace. that's true now and it was true three years ago, incredibly competitive, facing tesco and morrison's. what we can say from our business perspective, we have performed relatively well. our performance has been very resilient. at the end of the day it is down to having a differentiated offer.

we have invested significantly in the quality of our product, and we are in the process of improving across our business, our service levels, availability are better than they have ever been. those things count -- customers notice, which causes them to come to our stores. we have had a 3% increase in transactions, a very pleasing performance, and we continue to invest in our customers offers to make sure it continues going forward. anna: some have canceled their participation in the black friday phenomenon -- do you have plans around that event? mr. rogers: we do have plans around black friday. it doesn't tend to be a big event for sainsbury's. we had an event last year which is relatively successful. we offer a number of discounts on products on friday running all the way that weekend. it is not a big event for us, but we will run in a

similar fashion to last year. anna: talking of events that may be not massive for you but seem to be interesting, in a broader context, it is of course single day in china. i understand sainsbury's is selling tea and porridge. si that the strategy? mr. rogers: very much so. we think the opportunity to sell those fantastic british products to the chinese consumer is a great opportunity for us. our partnership with alibaba in that context -- hopefully we can provide an opportunity for the chinese can never, and we will see how it goes. it has only been up and running for a month or so. we have got single day coming up, and i think we can look forward to strong sales. anna: you should be asking the british tourism office to give you some contribution. [laughter] anna: what about the subject of brexit? for a business that is predominantly about the u.k.,

although you buy a product from all over the world, what does the question of brexit mean to a businesslike sainsbury's? we wouldn't comment specifically on the issue of brexit, and besides, i think we will contribute to the debate in the right way, but we don't really know the decisions being taken or the choices being made at this point in time. it is difficult to comment. as the situation evolves, we will in the right way provide our opinion, but at this stage it is too early to comment specifically. anna: and how about working in the latest minimum wage or living wage figures? how is that going into the business? do you have to change compensation to make the numbers work out? mr. rogers: well, as a result of the national living wage, we actually paid our colleagues a 4% pay increase on the back of the 3% last year, which was a record.

we have been very generous and rewarding our colleagues for the hard work they have done. as a consequence of that salary increase, it has taken our -- we are very comfortable with our position. in a way, it is a little bit simplistic, because as you rightly highlight, there are other components to remuneration that are not captured in the base level, things like bonuses or pay breaks. we would make the case that it is important to look at overall remuneration. anna: john, thank you so much for joining us. let's get back to charles allen -- a quick word from you. anything to add to that conversation? mr. allen: that things seem is the simplicity, simplifying the lysiness -- basical supermarkets and gotten too complicated to run, too

complicated for consumers. people wanted simple prices, because retailers needed simple processes, and that enables prices to come down in people to maintain profits. anna: it doesn't sound like you want to get involved in the brexit conversation. mr. allen: well, they are a u.k. business. unless one imagines that we would go into a tariff heavy world, which i think is not in the list of options, i'm not sure if it's relevant for them. anna: are you interested in retail? ms. armstrong: absolutely. charles, how sustainable is the business model, that consumers will go to big stores in the u.k. and europe? mr. allen: for a lot of people, the big story is quite convenient. the idea of the one-stop shop didn't arrive for no reason, and it's not necessarily in a go away. -- necessarily going to go away.

i think it is quite favorable for big stores. anna: charles, thank you very much. charles allen on the sainsbury's story. up next, portugal's opposition to the prime minister. ♪

anna: welcome back. 7:30. here are the stories you need to know this morning. china's industrial output slowed in october to match the weakest gains is the global credit crisis, but retail sales defied the trend, rising more than forecast. it underscores a gradual shift of the economy towards greater reliance on consumer spending. it will cut about 2000 jobs as it seeks to reduce annual cost by as much as $280 million by 2018. about 1300 employees have been notified, and the move will cut staff by 15%.

three people have been charged in connection with the hacking of at least nine big financial in publishing firms, including j.p. morgan chase. the authorities say criminal operation led to the theft of information of 100 million customers across the companies that fueled the web of stock manipulation, credit card rock, and illegal online casinos. we are less than half an hour away from the start of the european trading day. let's have a look at how the futures indicate we will open. it looks as if we will open higher on the equity market. the euro stocks is up, the same is true for the ftse. . little bit of the laggard and inalk about a. -- m&a. ab inbev has until this afternoon to a formally acquire sab miller.

chilcote,g in ryan who has been looking at the story. what is the likelihood of this happening? it didn't happen at 7:00 and they have until 5:00. week,that is after last ab inbev asking for an extension to 5:00 p.m. today. we expect some kind of announcement. 7:00 would have been a logical time but it could come later, right up to 5:00 p.m. hat thisn indication t deal might go forward yesterday when we learned from an individual familiar with the talks that its joint venture with them, miller coors, is all but set to go forward. sab miller, which would be the acquired company by ab inbev, looks like it is set to sell its 58% stake in its joint venture in the united states.

why is that important? because ab inbev already has 45% of the u.s. market. this joint venture has another 27%. that most lawyers agree on is that regulators would definitely not allow a deal to go forward if sab miller was to hold on to its stake and its joint venture in the u.s. one stumbling block to a deal looks like it may be overcome, perhaps as early as today. we are hearing that there could be an announced that as early as today. some are speculating that they could be wrapped up together. all 5:00 p.m. deadline comes from ab inbev last week asking the u.k. takeover panel or an extension to this evening, after doing that a couple times before. this is a super big deal. ab inbev wanted to happen, but it touches almost every country on the planet, and it is very complex.

increasingly, it looks like we may be moving toward that. anna: it seems that at least one of the regulatory hurdles that could given the way could be cleared, but we also have #carlsberg. -- have numbers from carlsberg. how does it affect it more broadly? ryan: it puts more pressure on carlsberg. if you think of it in terms of size, it is the fourth biggest in the world. scale is already helping ab inbev. if you look at their operating margin, it is in excess of 32%. whereas in, carlsberg you are looking at 14%. same thing for heineken, another mid tier brewer. in addition to that, carlsberg has its problems in russia, and we learned more about that -- not only are they suffering decline in volumes, but losing market share.

they didn't get quite as much help as they were hoping from western europe and the warm weather. carlsberg, i call the other they are facing competition increasingly from the microbreweries. for carlsberg, the idea of it ab inbev/sab miller tie-up eats more pressure on the top. anna: ryan, thank you. ryan chilcote. minister hasime been forced from power less than six weeks after winning a general election. let's get more with shall lima -- xiao lima. after yesterday's vote, how long will it take to get a new government put in place? the president has a key role to play, doesn't he? xiao: that's right. there is no set timing in the constitution for this. the president sets the agenda. he will have a regular weekly meeting with the prime minister

is a caretaker capacity and then he will have to meet all the other parties in parliament before announcing his decision. we have no timing set for this yet. the socialists say they can form the next government, but it is up to the president to decide whether that is a solution or whether they will seek another premier. anna: how nervous our markets going to get about this story, joao? we have heard from the socialists, the socialist leader, who wants to form the government, about the way he would want to roll back some of the austerity policies that have been put in place by his predecessor, and yet the bond markets -- we saw a spike in mondayso.77% or on -- or so on monday.

joao: they did rise to the highest is july on monday, but they fell yesterday. rising above the levels we saw a earlier this summer. do want to roll back some austerity measures at a faster pace than the coalition government did. that said, they claim that they can do that and keep the deficit below 3% of gdp third 2019. theyuestion is whether will always get the backing of those left-wing parties have voted with them. as they implement those fiscal measures. that is also something that the president will probably have in mind. anna: yes, just how stable any socialist could be. thank you very much for joining us on the phone there from lisbon. let's turn to our guest, ana armstrong.

ana, is the portuguese story worrying for you? joao was pointing out that they want to roll back austerity measures, but not all of them, and they still want to focus on that budget deficit. is it something that doesn't worry investors in the way did a few years ago? ms. armstrong: and looks like that in 2011 and 2013, the yields of those countries somehow decoupled from the political story. markets do not seem to be terribly worried about portugal. and looks like a new potential government is promising the best of both worlds, and we can see the stimulus story evolving and grace. -- in greece. but when it comes to the markets i don't think it will have any huge impact. the changes in the yields have been quite marginal. we canooking at bonds, really see the central bank

holds over 30% of the bonds. i don't see any major worry. anna: what do you expect from the ecb, talking about the eurozone is the whole? do you think we will see some movement on quantity leaving, more quantitive easing from the ecb? ms. armstrong: i think it is very possible. there are no signs that the ecb will stop the qe, because the consumer is covering in europe, but it is not an advanced stage. it's may be 18 months behind, and is facing different issues every month. we have something else that is happening. anna: how nervous will you be if we enter december and it seems as though we will see the federal reserve hiking interest rates and the ecb increasing qe? is that the likely development? ms. armstrong: if the fed does

not do anything about it, i the strength ofe the growth in the local economy. markets will be happier to see the fed taking some decision when it comes interest rates. i don't think they will be following inflationary expectations, so it's possible they will be falling behind the curve. anna: you think it will be welcome? we have some comments from credit squeeze in the last 24 hours -- talking about the nervousness that he sees could result in the market, the trauma that could result when we see the fed finally increasing interest rates. do you go along with those fears? what is your worst fear? ms. armstrong: i think it is some of the positive sign. course, providing that they don't have to bear the decision over the next 12 months.

i think increasing interest rates in the u.s. will be quite positive for the market. anna: how are you positioning yourself for that? are you long or short -- -- armstrong: well, equities as long as we are short -- anna: and is that because you are nervous about the fed or for other reasons? ms. armstrong: we don't believe that the reaction was -- we are neutral. and i thinknally -- inflation expectations will start emerging in the u.s. we will get the inflation protected notes, and the bond is something -- anna: you are expecting to see inflation coming for. ms. armstrong: it is very likely. anna: ana stays with us. we are a few minutes away from the start of the european equity trading day. 19 minutes away from the start of the trading day. and looks as if the futures are

telling us we will see a bit of a boost to the upside of the start of the european trading day. up next, we look at which stocks to watch -- letting carlsberg. . ♪ ncluding carlsberg stop ♪

anna: you are watching "countdown." 7:345. here are the stories you need to know this morning. china's industrial output slowed in october to match the weakest gaze the global credit crisis, retail sales rose more than forecasted. it marks a gradual shift in economy to greater reliance on consumer spending. lose -- liv ufthansa canceled nearly 1000 flights today. the cabin crew union has called for three more strikes through friday, and said it was

continuing lengthening the walkout. hird-quarter profits plunged due to a failed software project. saleslivery company said fell to 197 million euros, to sing estimate -- missing estimates. let's give you an update on where the european markets are set to open. just in the middle of the screen you will see euro stocks falling, staying true with the ftse and cac. the dax could be a bit of a laggard. we will keep a close eye on those. we are minutes away from the start of the trading day so let's look at some of the stocks we need to watching. nejra? nejra: i am starting with carlsberg, the world's fourth biggest brewer, the biggest in russia. it announced today it will cut cut, as00 jobs, at 15%

it looks to reduce annual cost by as much as 2 billion krone by 2018. they also say they will take restructuring costs of 10 billion kroner from 2015 through 2017. earnings were upbeat but overall what carlsberg is looking to do is cut costs to compete with more profitable rivals. eon, germany's a gift utility utilities in general have seen their profits hit with their move to renewables, at the lowest in more than a decade. eon said today that profit in the first nine months of 2015 fell 30%. poweras as it wrote down generation assets by 8.3 billion euros. net loss, the biggest since 2000. keep an eye on eon. finally, to stocks -- two

stocks. icap, the world's largest interdealer broker with revenue of 1.5 billion pounds. this will give it synergies of at least 60 million pounds, and for icap, what this means is that could see it redefined as a financial technology company, less of a broken business. keep an eye on both of those stocks. anna: thank you. we will keep an eye on that. ana is still with us. we have been waiting for weeks to get confirmation of where the ab inbev/sab miller can sign off on that megamerger. they pushed back the regulatory deadline numbers today, the latest in that series of deadlines. do you think m&a is oa theme?

are you expecting to see more of it? ms. armstrong: it's an interesting theme. that side of the market is incredibly competitive. carlsberg has to layoff 2000 people, in this potential merger will clearly cause quite a few headcount cuts. on the other hand, they will have potentially such a big market share, that it is almost working against the whole point of consolidation, prices recovered more competitive. -- prices becoming more competitive. in general, it is very likely to see more m&a in the industry. anna: and if we see more m&a, will we see yet more debt issuance by european companies, because debt is still quite cheap, as a way of funding those deals? it is thought to be partly financed through a big debt

issue -- is that something that worries you? ms. armstrong: that is clearly a trend that will continue, because those are so favorable and so will price, and i don't see why they will stop. anna: does it worry you that the market makers in the market aren't there now, and some of it is concerned about the corporate debt market, as interest rates start to rise we could see more volatility than had the next are inexperienced? experienced?een ms. armstrong: the first physical companies to fall are small, and the companies that -- but look at the european side. it will be quite some time. anna: you're a little bit longer on the european equity side -- what is behind that? ms. armstrong: the whole story of qe still has not quite materialized in the growth of

the markets, and looking at what happened to the u.s., u.k., in japan, it was much stronger. also, europe has so many quality companies that are so fairly valued -- it is worth looking. anna: why has the qe european-style not have the impact on asset prices, on equity markets that we have seen it had when conducted by other central banks? do you have a theory? ms. armstrong: i think that i do. ago, butd some years because of all these different issues that europe was facing, such as the chinese slowdown in august, european companies overexposed to the asian growth, --n we have all these issues corporate governance issues, issues with 33 countries, problems with greece that

stopped being a problem. now we have a situation in portugal with refugees -- a combination of internal and next little factors slowing down the impact of the qe. i think it will continue. anna: being well, some of the data is getting better. ms. armstrong: absolutely. the consumer is speaking up, the growth is stronger. at the same time, with the growth in asia, it will help european exports. anna: thank you very much for spending the hour with us. ana armstrong. minutes away from the start of the european equity trading day. manus cranny is here -- you'll will be leading the "on the move" scene. what are you watching? manus: passing ships in the night. dealthe anheuser-busch fall across the terminal? that is the question for sab miller. lots of speculation.

i will attribute the following comment to our fiendish reporter, ryan chilcote. he pointed me in the direction of the story where he talks about the anheuser-busch team, one of the analysts did, as being the rottweilers of cost-cutting. it is going to be interesting because that is essentially the creation of value, when you put someone like anheuser-busch and sab miller together, what will they have to divest? bloomberg intelligence has run the numbers and ryan will take us through that -- how profitable is anheuser? how profitable is sab miller? how much more profitable can they become? we will be joined through the first part of the show, and we will cross over to open forum. this is a forum where mario draghi, mark carney -- he likes the public eye that mark carney -- all talking about better

market, more ethical reinstating the efficacy of markets. markets, and in these past seven years of regulation, that we are little bit more trusting. the london stock exchanges joining me and we have a great deal of this discussion -- and the regulation going in the 2016. there is discussion of the european union may delay the introduction of those new rules -- what does that mean? and what is your pay rise this year? that is what we want to know? that comes down to the data, a little bit later in the day. we will have a discussion about that. and protect yourself -- chris, the ceo of the software provider for protection. protect yourself online, anna.

anna: thank you very much. an eclectic show at the top of the hour. manus cranny and the "on the move" team will be with us. this is the picture that we are expecting to unfold at the start of the european equity trading day. euro stocks called up by around 1%. of dax lacking a little bit. how about political's -- how will the political situation in portugal play in? not much so far, but we will keep an eye on that. here's a live shot of london. ♪

a very good morning. a warmer welcome. this is on the move. i am manus cranny come in for jonathan ferro. we are at the european headquarters. moments to go before the start of the european trading day. let's get straight to your morning brief. waffle wednesday. industrial production stalled. 2008 low. alibaba storms ahead with a record-breaking single day. calls for cuts. a deal bruised. world's fourth-largest beer maker slashes jobs. deal fore to seal a

sabmiller. power failure. the country's largest utility reports a drop in profits. ok, that is what we are watching. big issues. there will be u.k. data to watch at 9:00 a.m. london time. european equity markets opening a little higher. let's can do near a test let's jra.to -- let's get to ne been a- nejra: there has slow start to the week. we have mixed data from china. the ftse 100 opening almost .2% higher. cac 40 just over .2% higher. we are still waiting for the dax to open. we've got a couple