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. >> japan's road ahead, the chief cabinet tells bloomberg the bank of japan still has room to ease monetary policy. hit is on itseuro fourth quarter earnings. central bank governor puts pressure on ministers as a currency crunch buttons a fragile recovery. a rate decision is later. ♪ welcome to "countdown." it is the day before christmas and trading will be restricted for many.

trading hoursned in ireland, holland, the u.k., and they in -- and spain. denmark and sweden have the day off. u.s. stock markets close at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. meanwhile, we have a little bit of risk appetite going on in asia. let's get straight to first word news. >> the bank of japan still has policy options to continue its unprecedented monetary easing, so says the cabinet secretary. he was speaking days after the central bank announced it would not expand its mainstay newest target. stimulus target. >> make no mistake, japan is heading in the right direction. wage and labor markets are continuing to show improvement. a circle has begun. the stock market will follow the meaningful improvement of the economy.

with the effort the government is making, i am not worried about what the market does. >> meanwhile, the bank of japan governor has reiterated what he calls the banks unwavering determination to get inflation to 2%. that becomes -- that is minutes closer to the doj meeting where they want inflation to rise. oil is headed for the largest weekly gain and more than two months. they had the biggest drop since june. the number of drilling rigs fell as well. i move will result in a reduction of fourth-quarter earnings of about 900 million euros. france's biggest bank has maintained its plan to pay off 45% of their profit in dividends. caroline: let's get a market check to see how asia is trading. many of the stock markets already closing early. if you still going, japan is in the red.

walk is what -- through what happened today. we did see green across many embassies, including australia. >> that is right. it was not a bad session to get into the christmas spirit. we have been calling it a bit of rally.santa haidi: just in the last half hour or so we have seen the cost be giving up his game -- ga ins. giving up games for the emperor's birthday yesterday. we have a record budget being announced. we also have the boj minutes. policymakers stand to do more if required. at the end of the day we could not see japanese stocks hanging onto -- the gains.

sydni is having stabilization and commodity prices. the pickup on oil is the extended in the asian session. it is helping these oil companies. we also have nice gains in southeast asia. the shanghai is doing its own 1%.g by -- down by 9/10 of some of the big movers -- there is one big mover, given this is the last trading day or programming from us here in asia. it is fitting to talk about one of the biggest moves, one of these golden stocks. it is up about 60% year to date. it resumed trading after being in a halt since december 8. it surged as much as 65% before closing up by 54%. stakeompany offloading a in its property for $2.8 million. the money will be reinvested in

properties in hong kong. the chairman saying if there is any property available in hong kong he would jump into it. auto --saw china brand grand auto up again. it bought the biggest a stake in a bmw distributor in the chinese market. we also saw losses for jim dale -- gemdale. profit down by 8%. we saw a little bit of movement in the fx face. -- space. this is offshore hong kong traders being a bit of a surge trading at explain 53. -- 6.53. a very quiet holiday trading session here in asia. all that is left is for me to

say is merry christmas, from hong kong. caroline: very merry christmas to you. thank you for wrapping that up. meanwhile, futures in the u.s. trading lower. let's get more with all that is happening in japan, or jiggly be big japan minutes coming out today. we have the chief economist at fx pro. thank you for joining us. there is an interesting call outcome a great story written about jpmorgan -- seem to be readily bearish when it comes to the end. in fact bullish thinking it will even belowthe most 100 is where they feel the agreement will go. most analysts feeling we will see a bit of continued weakening for this 2016. where do you stand on what japan is doing in terms of qe and where the yanis going -- yen is going.

guest: the boj made some technical changes. they're pushing limits, doing anything more now is giving an 11th beer to someone who has had 10. i think they are reluctant to do anymore unless the case is strong and all other options have been exhausted. on balance, i don't see more qe next year. i think at the moment they are looking for the next changes through the government. the next fiscal measures they can bring through to see what the effects that could have. in terms of the yen, i think i am more on jpmorgan's side, i think it will be one of the strongest next year. i think at times it could overtake the dollar. i see it moving so 110 by the end of the year. having said that, the yen is one of the most difficult -- if i look at my currency forecast the last two years, i looked at what

i said 12 months ago, i was pretty right on the euro and sterling. yen -- pretty wrong. that is always the way, you can rationalize the currency. qe,can say, they are doing low inflation, that should be one way to lower -- it is the hardest currency what comes to forecast. conferences -- conferences is 125, meanwhile jpmorgan is 110. simon: 110. caroline: we see the yanis strengthening -- the yen is strengthening. jpmorgan put out at the moment even if we do see a strengthening we might start to see this fact it will not fit corporate profits so hard. libby we can see the equity market move away from just really moving off of the yen. relationship what goes on with the yen and

corporate profits has diminished for japanese companies. it has been less of the interplay that we have had in previous years. there's probably a stronger case that we can live with a firmer yen. then put that into contest, the weakening we have seen over the last 3.5 years, it is huge. anything within that, they could cope with a modest correction of the strength comfortably. caroline: if you're seeing potentially the yen strengthening next year, on the flipside what he does -- with easy -- what do you see? simon: the fed, i am comfortable with those two-ms. -- hiking moves. it has come down quite a lot in the last year. they are incredibly bearish in terms of their outlook for fed rates.

they have converged. i think there is more convergence to come. in the most i see two. oil prices are still low. until a ratehem moves through for the year. for the dollar, we have seen a lot on the dollar. i think the dollar moves will come in the first half of the year, more so against the euro. yen is coming more in the second half. the dollar has gone so far already, i don't see it will be another sort of double-digit gain in terms of the dollar and 20. -- into i-16. caroline: you said your productions were pretty bang on, what about the euro? will we see more euro weakening? simon: in the first half of the year. they could be around may level. the ecb could do more qe, but you have to -- there could be

doubts about the effectiveness -- caroline: the 11th. simon: if not the 12. carolyn growth we will talk much more -- >> we will talk more about commodities, stocks, currencies. who are the winners and losers in the performers of 2015, stay with us. ♪

caroline: it is 6:30 if you are in franken test frankfurt. -- frankfurt. we're looking at oil, heading for its largest gain in more than two months. it has been a tough year. we have been looking at some of the best and worst performers of 2015 whether it is commodities, stock market, currencies, she's got it. what was the best asset class. what you -- should you have been in if you're looking at a multiplatform? bonds.r: it looks like i was looking at the global broad market that covers the sovereign and corporate, developed and emerging markets.

i was looking at the world indexes clocks -- stocks. in europe, the stoxx 600 looks like it outperformed the bloomberg index. it is fascinating. of course you have negative yields on a lot of the sovereign debt in europe. we have seen actually be stock 600, it is looking like it will end the year higher. >> i work more in fx. simon: i imagine in 12 months, people say it is a bad year. ite again you are seeing -- sets you up for another year. could we squeeze anymore juice out of the bond markets. it contains the fed that is tightening. we are already seeing a negative caroline: and concern

about high-yield as well. thinking the are way asset bonds are priced, the gains become more worrisome. speaking of currencies, you have done well if you put your money in the dollar. it was up 8%. simon: it did well from january to march. and then it bumped around. it was not really until mid-october then people said yes, i will do it. the main dollar goes for more. if you look at the dollar index for the whole year, it probably is quite frustrating. it was not coming for a lot of them. caroline: what should you be betting against? nejra: the worst performing currency if you look at 16 majors was the brazilian right 31%.- ryle down

latin america. in terms of overall asset classes, of course you should have been bearish with commodities. that is not come as a surprise. bloomberg commodity index is or is returns. that is down 25% this year, heading for a fifth straight annual loss, and the worst year since 2008. that is looking at asset classes overall. you want to hear about the best and worst indices? the best, venezuela stock market index up 277%. this is interesting. inflation is running at over 100%. i was talking to a bloomberg news reporter who covers latin america and she says, if you look at black-market prices, you might not be the same picture. this is looking at the terminal. also with the currency weakening, a lot of people have been wondering where they put their money. they have been putting it in the stock market, despite the high inflation.

caroline: is it a neutral play? or at the moment if you factor in the weakness that you have had -- could that hurt what your money back would have been if you put it in stocks? usuallyverseas it is circle. investor, a foreign one of the caveats is, put your money in there, but can you get it out again? that is the question. the worst performing, ukrainian is down 5%. economy --l issues, there we go. what do you want to go on to next? we have time for currencies? caroline: what is your best and worst currency? nejra: the best was the swiss franc out of the 16 majors. only one to gain against the dollar this year, the dollar did gain against all that one.

the worst was the brazilian real. caroline: give us your calls. the yen will have a surprise. caroline: is in the consistence -- consensus for it to weaken? in 2015 you should not follow the consensus. that is what we have learned. simon: don't follow consensus, follow me. in terms of weakness, i would still go for latin america. i still think brazil is quite a mess. no structural reforms. many of the problems they're having. i think the brazilian real could ken.l we can -- wea caroline: thank you very much. central bankypt's

makes a crucial rate decision today. delaying the at announcement in order to meet with the top government ministers. live in the middle east, coming up next. ♪

caroline: welcome back to "countdown." let's go to first word. nejra: oil in new york is headed for the largest weekly gain in more than two months. that is after u.s. inventories

declined by almost 6 million barrels last week, he biggest loss in june. writing down part of the goodwill related to its italian unit, the move will result in a reduction of fourth-quarter earnings of about 900 million euros. francis biggest bank has maintained its plan to pay off with dividends. meetings will take place every six to eight weeks. caroline: thank you very much. central bank is due to decide on interest rates today. it has been delayed in order for the government to meet. we have all of the updates. what do we expect from the decision. will we get it today? is the delay so far a sign of a big announcement to come?

reporter: as far as we know, we will get a decision today. there is uncertainty about the outcome whether the central bank will keep rates on hold or raise them to boost the currency. what makes today's meeting energy -- interesting is the central bank took an unusual step last week saying they cannot achieve the price to ability mandate without the full coordination and commitment of the government on areas that include fiscal consolidation, and key economic reform. the forum is a council that includes the prime minister, the governor, some key ministers and outside effort grid it is worth noting that both of them have been tightened a bit when state-run bayne -- backs raised interest to attract more funds. caroline: fascinating. when you put it in terms of

turkey, that seems to be bowing under pressure from the government. you know how the central bank exerting its own power in egypt. what exactly are the challenges the central bank is worried about? is it all about fx? the biggest challenge in egypt is the fx shortage. the reserve has stabilized, but they are down 50% compared to their 2010 levels. the government and the central banks have been trying to preserve dollars by restricting what they say are unnecessary. that is leaving the fortress say they do not have enough dollars to do business. if you look at the pmi for example, it is a sign of private sector performance, it is showing signs of contraction. that is why you have many investors and economist arguing or has to be a currency devaluation to attract more investors. bloomberg middle east editor talking to us about the devaluation. thank you. let's have a click check on the

market -- let's check on the market. we are currently seeing the pound holding onto flat against the dollar. the euro is up to 10th of the present -- 2/10 of a percent. the dollar is weakening perhaps a little bit through 2016. crude oil is up. the fourth straight day of gains for oil. nymex trading at a premium to brent. the bti crude getting a push from the facts the u.s. will be ending the ban. meanwhile, keeping an eye on what is going to be opening later today -- asia has had a mixed picture. australia close early them as it hong kong. japan trading in the red as we speak. and the a cash crisis fight against i.s.. kurdistan, where the political divisions are jeopardizing the battle against

islamic state. we will be digging into the economy of the middle east. meanwhile, let's have a look at london. hopefully a beautiful start to the morning. stay with us. ♪

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♪ watching in a winter watchlist land! ♪ xfinity's winter watchlist. watch now with xfinity on demand- your home for the best entertainment this holiday season. >> it was once hailed as the next dubai of the middle east, and oasis of opportunity in a volatile region. now kurdistan is wracked by an economic crisis and deep-seated political division. foreign investors have taken flight. the region central role in the fight against i.s. is at risk. >> the first thing the fighting against isis over the price of oil and baghdad. the other issue is the refugees. >> everything that happens here is underpinned by oil. the week price of crude and the collapse