yvonne♪ asia set to rise at the start of a new trading week. insight of erasing the years losses. show thatd sales data china is not responding to central-bank stimulus. to oiljects a freeze production, saying it wants to oil outputown how first.

is that the market board. how is the start of the week is shaking up? >> we could be looking at the start of another rally in asia. the s&p 500 ending at its since november, a correlation between that rally and oil and that rally in energy stocks, pushing up u.s. equities for another week. let's take a look at how things are shaping up in asia, strong gains from the aussie dollar, asx 200 up. servicesomes to oil firms, badly beaten down. online,e, just coming upanese stocks, nikkei 225

by one and 3/10 of 1%. strong out of the gates. some sense ofing up lifting sentiment when it comes to capital spending in japan. kospi also up by 7/10 of 1%. it is the oil story we are keeping an eye on. these currencies up by 1%, for example the aussie dollar. 0.7561 at thethe moment. let's take a look at the move in crude oil in the asian session. that trading at just over $40 a barrel mark. in january, we were hitting 12-year lows. we have seen crude rally some 40% since then on these

expectations that we will be seeing supply a cord when it comes to the major producers. $38, downg at about about quarter of 1%. a meeting between iran and russian oil ministers coming up reportsut ahead of that that the iranian oil minister has said leave us alone until iran's oil production gets up to 4 million barrels a day. they are currently at 3 million. they are saying they will get to 4 million barrels a day and then come to the table and potentially talk about getting involved with this agreement to deal with the global surplus. yen, a check of the strong beat when it comes to japan machinery orders. it was week for the most of -- weak for the most part of last

week. a sense of renewed appetite as traders get back into these commodities. all of these currencies gaining by over 1% last week. yvonne: thank you so much. the latest eco-data from china likely to heap more pressure on the leadership as they try to meet this year's growth target, at least 6.5%. industrial output and retail sales both low in the january-february period. there had been some signs of stabilization, if you will, especially in investment numbers and property and fiscal spending by the government, but the

weak economy is persisting. the eco-fronts on . positive toking meet the growth target, even though officials are saying they will meet that target, otherwise they would not have set the target. governor says no stimulus is needed, but let's get to the data. industrial output in the combined january-february rising just 5.4%, below estimates, suggesting continued sluggishness in demand. demand at home and abroad, deflation has persisted for some 48 consecutive months, four straight years of deflation for pti. retail sales is a key barometer for consumption trends, climbing

10.2%. forecasted the 11% from economist. this is all on top of much lower credit figures we got on friday, aggregate financing, the broadest measure of new credit growth, drops sharply after a record surge a month earlier. the danger here is that to meet of six point 5% growth, the pboc will need to loosen monetary policy faster and further -- 6.5% growth, the boc will need to loosen monetary policy faster and further. so there are a lot of pressures we have seen, and the numbers in january and february are distorted, but again not painting a great start to the year for reaching that target. yvonne: were also seeing pressure on the currency.

the pboc governor did project a sense of calm at the press conference on saturday. what message is he trying to send? u.s.id no rush to buy dollars. >> he is saying china's economy is steady as she goes and they have the fan firmly on the tiller and not to panic. we have seen panic because of perceived policy missteps. and trying to paint a calm competent picture. he says excessive stereos is not necessary to achieve the growth target. he says as long as there is not any big economic or financial turmoil, they will keep the policy with a slight easing bias. products,xport especially manufacturing export

products, are very competitive, although there are increasing changes toradual comparative advantages, competitiveness overall remains quite good. addition, he said capital flows will return to relatively quiet and normal level soon. we have an estimated $1 trillion in outflows last year. quite soon should return to a normal and quiet level, because the annual national people's congress wraps up midweek, and all the delegates have to head home with their marching orders from the central government. thate: trying to wrap up npc with a soothing message to investors. thank you so much. emphasizedvernor that china does not need to devalue a currency. that doesn't mean the yuan is on the stronger side, right? marked difference

between the need to manage expectations to head off capital outflows and the other side, -- lack of a broad broad agreement on the fair value of the renminbi, driving the exchange rates short-term. chart, a simple dollar-yuan. the key take away is what we have seen last week. this was a little panic at the start of january. we have started to fall asleep here. level so far this year at the start of this trading week. the offshore actually is now trading at a premium to the onshore rate, so that's one chart or one measure. the other measure is what china has been wanting the markets to focus on, which is the yuan

against the basket of currencies. although we don't know exactly what the weightings are of these currencies. this is what we've come up with based on trade flows. this shows you is that the yuan against the basket is is at its weakest level since december 2014. a lot of this has to do with back in august, keep in mind the dollar is still the dominant currency in this basket, which is why you're seeing this evaluation back in august fairly clearly play out, and of course this is when the yen started to strengthen against everyone else. the point is that when you put these two charts together it simply shows you that there are in fact two measures of the renminbi. that's where the confusion comes in. which measure should you follow? it's both. you do have the daily fixing

which is this, the blue chart right here. i invert of that for you. there we go. -- i invert it that for you. there we go. you do see the divergence between where we are for the basket and where we are against the u.s. dollar here it -- dollar. yvonne: thank you so much. the international monetary fund says asia should step up and take a leading role in guiding the global economy. managing director christine lagarde described the region as the most dynamic in the world. she predicted asia would drive nearly two thirds of global growth over the next four years and urged officials to keep monetary policy loose while using fiscal policy to boost growth. back at moody's after it cut a long-term debt outlook. hong kong's of ratings long-term unchanged, but downgraded the outlook negative to favorable.

john tsang says that movies has got it wrong. john: they can look at the economic conditions we have. it is time to consider an upgrade for hong kong. yvonne: central banks out of ammunition when it comes to boosting growth. good morning. ♪

yvonne: it is 8:14 a.m. in hong kong. these are the stories making headlines. at least 34 people killed in an explosion in the turkish capital ankara. the suspected suicide bomber blew up a car close to the prime minister's office, injuring 125. the blast comes less than one

month after another explosion. that attack was claimed by kurdish separatist in response to turkey's campaign against ethnic kurds. president xi jinping has called on the armed forces to step up defense by being more inventive. issaid military there essential to combat efficiency. he called for what he described as unique advantages in key areas. korean and u.s. forces have states their largest ever landing exercise, more than 17,000 soldiers took part. seoul and washington say the drills are defensive and routine, while north korea says they are preparations for an invasion. the commander of u.s. missile forces says he must concede that pyongyang has the ability to launch a missile that could strike anywhere in north america. powered by over 2400 journalists and 150 bureaus around the

world, this is bloomberg news. the bank of japan starts its latest policy meeting today with the decision coming on tuesday after the ecb extended stimulus last week. there could be something to be learned from how the announcement is communicated. what exactly can the governor learned from mario draghi. i think mario draghi undead some of his good work last week. in the press conference he made throwaway remarks. something that reversed slump.o slunk

kuroda is hoping for a bit of a rally. he will want to make sure the message is consistent and the markets go the way he wants and there is not a u-turn there. yvonne: we saw what happened in january when they adopted negative rates, flipping backwards to what should have butted following afterward, how important is governor kuroda in keeping that consistent message? >> he wants to have a consistent message in the markets to go the way he wants them this time around. that thisbe clear negative interest rate policy is right for japan, why they took the step. they had already ruled out a policy action, saying negative interest rates were not an option. the move has not been popular in

japan. that the make clear boj is standing behind the policy and not moving away from it. yvonne: we know that the governor does not like to do policy and back-to-back meetings. what should we be expecting? >> some timing for the next move , economist saying something likely in the coming months, maybe june, july. he will have to give a clear signal on whether the negative rate is working or what benchmarks he will look to assess its effectiveness, and what would be the trigger when they do decide to go deeper, so a clear message they are not pulling away from negative rates and will likely go deeper. yvonne: thank you so much. we count down to that boj meeting. china overseas -- 44 $.8 buy

billion. we will can in you to watch that one. -- we will continue to watch that one. our next guest says ecb's actions should be supported and their overweight stance on eurozone equities versus emerging markets. joining me is the chief investment officer for south asia at ubs wealth management. we saw that mario draghi's remarks were the catalyst of saw market movement we following afterwards, but in the context of ultralow negative rates, signs of market distortions seem to be on the rise. you think the fed and boj have in -- concerned isboj making it a lot more difficult. the way mario draghi has communicated to the markets and markets have reacted, he seems to have a lot more impact than

what governor kuroda has done. high at the are lm the marketso ca down and weaken the yen. consumptionsy any going on, exports are the only mainstay of the japanese economy at this time. weake: we haven't seen a yen. are there still concerns of a stronger dollar? >> absolutely. one of the reasons why the japanese yen has not weakened is because of disappointment over the boj's policy. negative interest rates don't really work in japan because there is hardly any consumption going on. were willinganks to lend, no one wants to borrow. negative interest rates only have a certain impact unawares

on the eurozone side, quite a bit of consumption coming in, specially germany. negative interest rates workfare, and they are not the only option that mario draghi has introduced. introduced buying corporate bonds, and a program we think will be very effective especially in peripheral european countries. you have know maintained a neutral stance on japanese equities, but we have seen market volatility ease a little bit. rising back to bull market gradually here. what would make you change your shift back to wanting to buy japanese shares? >> one of the main reasons why is because on the fiscal policy side we have not seen abe really deliver, the reforms regarding the labor union. if he can put through some of

those measures into parliament and get them past, then you have more reason to be positive on the japanese economy. if you see consumption increasing, if you see japanese consumers by, then they get you reason to be more positive on japanese stocks, but imports a both of these measures and not coming through at this time. the data on consumption is really, really negative. do still favor eurozone equities over emerging markets. emerging markets, we have seen them piggybacking on some of the gain with the oil rally. it seems like the headwinds have faded a little bit though. >> yeah. you're seeing a little bounce back up because the emerging markets space got hammered last year, and therefore there is a little bounce given the fact that oil prices have recovered. our view is that on a medium to long-term aces, emerging markets are going through a structural problem. it's a situation you cannot just

reverse overnight. structural issues take a longer time to fix, and at this point in time we are not seeing some of the reforms coming through in some of the emerging markets, and therefore that is one of the reasons why we have an underweight on the emerging markets space at this time despite the fact that oil prices have recovered in january. yvonne: we have to leave it there. thank you so much. the rally may be at risk ahead of the uk's budget decision. we will have more on that in our fx headlines. ♪

haidi: it is monday, the 14th of march, and these are your fx headlines. china's central bank strengthened the daily fixing, spurning demand for high-yield assets. the -- the aussie

dollar pacing gains against the greenback. reducers from materials getting a lift on more stimulus support, particularly in the way of infrastructure investment out of beijing. the yen fell against all its major peers. declined aso investors weigh the impact of the ecb package. the pounds first rally against the dollar is about to hit the brakes as investors brace for monetary and fiscal policy on britain's economy. worstng is still the performing currency, but it did get a reprieve over the past two weeks, a rally reflecting easing concern over the possibility of a brexit. the pound posted its biggest gain in more than a month versus the euro after mario draghi and announced expanded stimulus. osborne set to release his budget this week, and could follow through with a warning.

the bank of england also releases its rate decision a day later. it could prove to be a double whammy for the economy. advanced,ian riel growing speculation that the president will be deposed, boosting local assets. to its strongest close since august, up 12% this month, the best-performing currency in the world. after dumping it last year, traders have become more bullish because there are signs that the president could be impeached using public funds to cover budget gaps. those of the stores driving your fx markets this morning. ,vonne: coming up, this deal anbang expanding its u.s. hotel portfolio. sellstone has agreed to strategic hotels and resorts for

$6.5 billion three months after it purchased the u.s. luxury resort company. we will talk about that, details and names when "first up" continues. ♪

yvonne: good morning. it is a 30 a.m. in singapore. happy monday to you. a 30 a.m. in singapore. happy monday to you. you're watching "first up". asian stocks rising led by japan, 13% above its low for the year, sentiment helped by a rebound in oil and other commodities. investors focus on policy decisions this week from the boj and fed, most don't see any movement from either. pressure rising on china's leaders as key economic data strong in the first two months of the year, industrial output rose by less than expected, 5.4%

in january and february, while retail sales missed estimates, however the central bank says major stimulus is not required. says he willn continue to pursue prudent monetary policy. blackstone will sell strategic ,otels and resorts to anbang $6.5 billion. bought waltersng a story of -- waldorf's a story hotels. powered by over 2400 journalists and 150 bureaus around the world, this is bloomberg news. markets in the asia-pacific, stockmarket rally continues. one .3% up, a, big beat on machine orders coming out of japan, rising 15% on month, a big beat their. kospi also seeing relative gains. asx 200 up 7/10 of 1%.

it data is somewhat disappointing, but we look ahead to the boj and fed meetings. a lot to digest this week. china is powering ahead with plans to reform the economy from the bloated state sector to the financial markets. senior regulator says authorities are planning to combine more of the biggest state-owned enterprises to cut overcapacity. than how different china has tackled this before? shery: the vision seems to be bigger and better for the $18 trillion public sector, so we're hearing from the chairman of the state owned assets supervision and administration committee, saying that he thinks the reform should go into two tracks, cut overcapacity in some industries while capturing growth and others, like aerospace, nuclear power, and high-speed rail. the key difference this time is that there wouldn't be those

massive layoffs we saw in the last major round of state owned enterprises reform in the 1990's. back then, 40 million workers lost their jobs. he says that the reform this time around must balance many interests, especially those of employees. yvonne: what do authorities plan to do about the financial risks to the economy as it faces a slowdown? are seeing growing concerns that these risks could lead to unemployment and social unrest, so judicial authorities have come out pledging to do more, especially when it comes to financial crime. prosecutor says that his department will prioritize ,nvestigations into finance securities, and insurance, while the president of the people's supreme court said that he will prioritize strengthening oversight of financial crimes involving the internet.

more than 72,000 people were convicted for crimes involving illegal fundraising and peer-to-peer lending last year. we are seeing china's new regulator saying that he is bowing to support the market. valeant to support the government -- vowing to support the government. he really did defend that intervention we saw. thank you so much. a look at what were following on bloomberg this morning. at what thee a look , callinginister said the central bank to account for the $100ng him about million stolen from the bank account. he says he plans to meet the prime minister and issue of further statement. the central bank said the funds

have been stolen by the hackers, some cash trained -- track to the philippines. air travel does not appear to be slowing. 200ng delivered a record planes last year, more than airbus. boeing is predicting more orders for this year. record deliveries set a for boeing in a single market. it also delivered 158 planes last year. aiming to double its fleet by the end of this decade, saying the new shanghai disneyland will lift demand for tickets. air travel continues to expand to china. the airline also considering joining a global alliance and hopes to make that decision within months. shares have tripled since its debut. a property developer getting

into the railway business with an agreement to buy a stake in a group, part of restructuring plan which would see more than the purchase of more than $9 billion in assets, aiming to fund the metro acquisition through share sales, but no details released so far. the company is fighting for control, seeing full-year profit rise by 50% after the chinese government eased property curfews. that was a look at some of the stories making headlines. china's anbang insurance adding to its portfolio, snapping up strategic hotels and resorts for 6.5 billion dollars according to our sources a bloomberg. the beijing days company is best known for buying new york's waldorf astoria last year. bought strategic just about three months ago. >> that's right. of $6.5 billion is 450

million dollars than they paid for it in december. planning to selllin the properties one by one, but anbang has made an offer to buy the company in one go. strategic resorts has 16 properties across the u.s., luxury, high-end properties, manhattan, half moon bay. if the deal goes ahead, it would be the largest u.s. real estate purchase by a buyer from mainland china. there has been no comment from bloomberg or anbang on this deal. anbang has been adding to its u.s. purchases. ought the waldorf astoria last year. that was majority-owned by blackstone at the time.

it also bought an office fifth avenue as well. they may continue to be going shopping in the u.s. yvonne: we have seen chinese insurers step up when it comes to u.s. real estate, particularly in luxury. >> that's right. the rules loosened up a couple of years ago, so they have been able to invest more overseas, but specifically in high properties, mature commercial assets in prime locations in cities and 25 markets. the waldorf a story of for example, the lords of london building, so good -- the waldorf a tory a -- a story china's property market

continues to see outlook pretty bleak, so maybe going further afield there. thank you so much. china's ongoing national people's congress has heard soaringublicity about property prices, and that is despite growing concerns of a new bubble. an increasing number of would-be homebuyers resigned to a life of renting. >> the view from her beijing office window is a constant reminder of either a so far missed opportunity or a beckoning big mistake. if iw i am wondering really need to buy a house. it is a dilemma shared by many of her generation and a country where owning is seen as essential, especially for marriage, but increasingly it can be financially crippling. she estimates it would cost 20 years salary to cover the down payment. most people, the house is the

most important part to consider, but for me, i think work is more important. the opportunity of my job is mostly in beijing. >> when authorities eased property curbs, the goal was to reduce excess inventory and tier three and tear for cities, where supplies outstripped demand. the unintended consequence is that it drove up prices in tier one cities, like beijing were prices are up some 10% over the past year. in shanghai, new home prices are up 18% in the past year. 52%, which has worked with state media has called panicked buying. you see theything strong development in the housing market, people still have the intention to jump in. >> the lack of affordability is being felt not only on the home front, but in the workspaces well. many young entrepreneurs are turning to shared working spaces

, like tech temple in beijing, white not share overhead instead of shelling everything out yourself? >> they helped tremendously. they make you feel that you are in a larger environment where other people are also doing innovative things. >> firstly i really enjoy working here and sharing a lot of resources. lonely, nowhere to talk, ok? privateu have a company, you feel sad and the whole company phil said, but here you feel up. >> which is what he needs right now -- she needs right now. will she resigned herself to renting or literally mortgage for future? buy oris you need to raise a highto price and someone says, don't write. you will pay for it for your whole life like japanese. so i don't know.

yvonne: coming up next, japan's biggest matchmaker using seven decades of knowledge to try something new, the race and self driving cars. details when we return. ♪

>> it is 8:44 a.m. in hong kong. these are the stories making headlines. german chancellor angela merkel suffered to feed at bella box as voters use elections to reject or open border refugee policy. the cdu one, but will form a coalition after the anti-immigration party will cut a quarter of the vote. hundreds of thousands of people , protesting against

corruption and calling for the impeachment of the president. brazil is suffering its worst recession in decades, executives and lawmakers are embroiled in a corruption investigation known as karma. korea's program has finally beaten google. the 33 world world champion calls the victory pointless having apologized to fans for losing three straight defeats. the to say have their final match on tuesday. powered by over 2400 journalists and 150 bureaus around the world, this is bloomberg news. yvonne: maserati's north american unit recalling more than 28,000 cars.

the automaker says the driver side format may become dislodged and stuck in the accelerator, making the cars speed up. this is the second recall for maserati in the past six months. almost 1000 quattro fortes were called back because of fire risks. japan's top mapmaker making a big push in the development of navigation guides for driverless cars. they count google enter your to among his clients, and wants to create 3-d maps for autonomous vehicles by 2020, working on a system that will translate real-time data gathered from vehicle radars and other sensors. we use laser measuring equipment and other state-of-the-art technology to collect the mapping data, and our maps are therefore much more detailed and accurate. we have been investing in these technologies for use when a, driving is introduced. yvonne: let's take a closer look with our bloomberg news

reporter. great to see you. tell us more about this company. what is zenrin? >> they are the biggest mapmaker in japan. it started its business 70 years ago. they started making tourist guide maps for travelers. , it has created the most complete mapping database in japan. google's a supplier to mapping service in japan, as well as carmakers. as carmakers try to introduce autonomous driving cars towards 2020, they're trying to develop a system to make maps for autonomous driving cars. yvonne: let's talk about this mapping technology. needed forf maps are

autonomous driving vehicles? >> right. the two keywords are real-time and high precision. for carxisting maps navigation systems, autonomous cars need up-to-date maps. they can't rely on maps that are two weeks old. it has to be very precise and real-time. yvonne: that's right. the nissan ceo saying mapping technology is one of the biggest hurdles facing autonomous driving cars. what are the challenges making these maps for autonomous vehicles? >> maps are a very local enrin's advantage is a very good database here. tory carmaker which wants sell autonomous driving cars here, they have to probably use zenrin's database.

database is not going to be enough, and room for they havelimited, so to invest in i.t. technologies to work out the system that can automatically translate the data collected by vehicles, licensors, into maps for autonomous driving vehicles. yvonne: i did like that comment from the president of zenrin saying there is a huge gap, comparing it to the difference between climbing mount fuji and mount everest. a quick look at some of the big events this week. back in thees headlines on tuesday when the bank of japan delivers its latest policy statement. we spoke tonomists expect no change this week, but almost 90% see more easing

through july. on wednesday, the chinese premier will give his press conference of the year, wrapping up the national people's congress in beijing, targeting 6.5% to 7% growth. lee calls for new momentum to boost the economy. thursday could be the most erratic economic data as it australia's employment numbers, seemingly impossible project. thanmists expect more 15,000 jobs added in february, keeping the unemployment rate at 6%. australia stays in the spotlight friday as lewis hamilton begins his attempt for a fourth world title. they are also defending the constructors championship, also on sunday. movies now, the disney found sue andzootopia takes

$50 million. dead pool was third, earning 10 million dollars in its fifth week in theaters. coming up next, negative interest rates in japan may be forcing one company to look outside the box. that is when "first up" returns. stay with us. ♪

yvonne: a quick check of markets. the nikkei.25% on 225, machine orders rising. sydney, a global rally in stocks gather momentum, up eight tens of 1% on the asx 200. strengthen, up with moderate gains out of seoul. minutes. trades in 15 futures pointing to a higher open. let's look at the stock exchange. trading underweight and asia.

>> i don't see the point where we need to do this. every time. every time. marketsy after the the takeover bid of someone hundred 80 a share. -- 780 a share. today on top of the 17%. >> did you call this direction? >> i did. do we have the replay. >> we're seeing pretty good gains from everybody today.

kanamoto, first-quarter torating profit slumped 36% $36 million. i don't know. >> they have ecb. >> the recommendations are good. nobody is calling it a cell. -- a sell. >> mitsubishi reportedly billioning a ¥100 overseas development fund, making use of excess capital after japan went negative. they're looking to scoop up prime office buildings in the u.s. and europe. looking at annual returns of 5%. >> i don't need to talk anymore. can we get a close-up? >> no, no, our director does

that. woody think the boj is going to do? i wouldn't be here at i would be an of billion dollars in cash in my apartment overlooking hong kong. , a rally seeing gains here today. >> whatever happens out of the talks in iran, if oil goes a different way, we could see something happening there this week. >> thanks. that's the word from the stock exchange. that's it for us on "first up". >> first of all looking at the yuan and what it has been doing. a lot of people taking a bearish stance, but they have been proved wrong after that

depreciation we had last august. we have something like five and $62 million of options. time is running out on those. -- $562 million of options. time is running out on those. looking at thailand, overtaking korea as the number one destination for people traveling from mainland china. the implications of that and what it means for the thailand economy. last but not least, the battle of the food delivery companies. coming in to discuss opportunities and is part of the world and how hot the competition is. ♪

♪ rishaad: it is monday the 14th of march. this is "trending business". i am rishaad salamat. ♪ rishaad: we are heading to beijing, tokyo, singapore. here is what we are watching. asian stocks extending gains, marketsally sending higher. china remains a concern, weaker data indicates the slowdown persist, keeping pressure on the government and its growth targets.

thailand, the leading destination for chinese holiday travelers, 7.9 million paid a visit last year. do follow me on twitter @rishaadtv. we use that #trendingbusiness. what's going on on this trading day. four weeks of strong gains in asia. it looks like another strong start out of the gates when it comes to trading in this region, the highest growth for the s&p 500 all year on friday, so lending some sentiment. fed, a banks, boj, the little bit of an afterthought this week. it is the oil story moving markets. malaysia flat at the moment. singapore up i-8 tenths of 1%. -- eight tenths of 1%. driving thaters

rally. the nikkei 225 up. we had that strong beat encore by 15%,y orders, up only expecting 2%. that was a very strong heat. also looking to these talks between iran and russia, the oil ministers meeting today, moving oil a little bit. these are the movers. financials, return to stability and it comes to crude, good for the credit outlook and banks and energy producers. independence, top gainer today, up by 11%. beaten-down,s today seeing a gain of over 6%. lng up by the same amount.

in the tokyo session, some divergence. kansai electric down by 2%. gains for a touchy, selling its lcd operations to polaris. obayashi up by almost a percent. up -- wti up, 38.39. when we were hitting 12 year lows in january, saudi arabia, venezuela, russia potentially

addressing the supply situation. we have seen that pick up to over $40 a barrel when it comes to crude. all eyes on these talks between iran and russia. rishaad: thanks. fromatest economic data china, more pressure on the leadership as they tried to meet this year's growth target of at least 6.5%. industrial output and retail sales both slowing. where having a look at how the government will meet that goal if we see this continued deceleration. good morning. i am back in beijing, but the economy is still the same. it is chugging along at a slower pace, mostly bad news on the eco-front for that combine january-february time span. there are always seasonal distortions.

great tolooking that reach the growth target of at least 6.5% growth this year, especially since the pboc governor says no major stimulus is needed. as there isn't any big financial or economic turmoil, the pboc will keep its prudent monetary policy with a slight easing bias. we have seen six and just rate cuts and a little more than a year. that has yet to feed into any kind of noticeable recovery. there has been stabilization, but recovery yet the sea. industrial output in that combine time rising just 5.4%, below estimates, suggesting sluggishness in demand at home and abroad. deflation has existed that persisted for 48 consecutive months. barometeres, a key

for consumption and getting people to spend more their they, climbed just 10.2% in january-february time, missing the 11% forecast from economists surveyed by bloomberg. this is on top of much lower credit growth that we got for the same time. aggregate financing, the broadest measure of new credit, dropped sharply after a record surge a month earlier. the danger here is that to meet the objective of at least six point 5% growth, the pboc will likely have to lose in monetary policy faster and further. that could intensify depreciation pressures on the yuan, not to mention the quickening buildup of debt, now almost 2.5% of gdp. the property market for pickup investment of 3% after continued monthly declines. rishaad: thanks a lot for that. we'll have a look at that story

and what steve was talking about later. we want your opinion. tweet us your thoughts @rishaadtv. include #trendingbusiness. we're taking a look at china's insurance, buying strategic hotels and resorts for $6.5 billion. the beijing-based company snapping up new york's waldorf astoria last year. insurance buying strategic hotels and resorts from blackstone for 450 million dollars more than what blackstone paid for the company back in december. if the deal goes through, it would be the biggest you a state -- biggest u.s. real estate fortress -- purchased by china. if you look at how much chinese insurers have spent lying overseas property since 2000 14,

that's about $5 billion. this deal is six point $5 billion. anyverseas property system 14, that's about 5 billion dollars trade this deal is $6.5 billion. it has been snapping up properties around the world as well as in the u.s. it bought a property from blackstone, an office block in manhattan on 6th avenue, also buying insurers, including a charge e-groups fidelity in life for $1.6 billion in november. new york has aid lot of investment opportunities. it looks like he could continue to go shopping. that.d: thank you for let's have a look at some other stories. starting off with what has proven historically to be a very volatile number. least for the month of

january, the industrial sector does look like it seems to be picking up in japan, data showing core machine orders in january beat estimates, jumping 15% on month. economists were expecting a gain of less than 2% following a rise of 4.2% in december. it was a gain of 8.4% on year when economists were expecting the figure to contract. core machine orders are an indicator of future capital spending and exclude volatile orders for ships and orders from electrical power companies. the figures have been seesawing , marking of five months of month to month contraction. china over sees demand is buying for 4.8rty assets billion dollars. the company has signed an 27.13 hong kong dollars for chinese residential

property assets per share. that would be a 5.4% premium from their last closing price. citic has properties and 25 chinese cities. t a time when chinese regulators are pushing for state-owned enterprise reform. they are pushing the biggest state enterprises to cut overcapacity. china banker getting into the real way -- railway business buying a stake in mission jen metro group, restructuring plan which would see them by more than $9 billion in assets. anke will fund the acquisition through eight share sale. for controlghting of itself, full-year profit rising by 15% after the chinese government eased property curbs.

rishaad: on our website, were looking at mariota druggies mariota druggies sinks, loose policy ships. rishaad: the navigation system for driverless cars. up next, the latest economic data from china. ♪

rishaad: getting you back to markets. some risk of scenarios being priced into the markets, potential for market rebound. what gives here? >> it is a situation where there

therowing confidence that u.s. economy, the world's largest, still on track in terms of economic expansion. i think there is growing confidence and growing expectations that we will see another federal reserve rate hike sometime soon as result, very much underpinning risk assets. the expectations of fed tightening is a positive for the market. saw what markets did at the beginning of this year, so quick, so far down, you think that it will overshoot. is that what happened? >> it did to some extent. but what is interesting for our clients is a barometer of how worried investors were during that's a love, suggesting to me that they are not over leverage, and we can see risk assets climbed steadily higher against that improved backdrop in the u.s. rishaad: world credit spreads,

what are they telling us? credit spreads are not indicating any significant near-term concerns. other barometers we look for around the market, the chart of the u.s. dollar against the hong kong dollar. rishaad: it doesn't move. within a small range. the fact that it's trading back that stronger side of the band for the hong kong dollar says to me that the real money is flowing into hong kong. hong kong equities recently cheap. hang seng is nine, remarkable for an index of its size. byit was dragged down negative sentiment, but degree from western investors towards china, dragging down hong kong equities on a price to book , unequivocally cheap and

cheap compared to recent lows in the market. investors have jumped in and looked at some value propositions in that market as well. rishaad: going back to value and not growth. that is what it is all about here? >> i think so. the qe exhaustion of fatigue factor, the law of diminishing returns.resurgenc it was a much welcome stimulus, but a weird delayed market reaction. think because the easing was coupled with perhaps the signal that we're not going to give any significant further rate cuts into negative territory anytime soon, so it all fits together with that view we have been expressing pretty much for the last 18 months that was policy divergence, fed tightening.

is warningrio draghi corroded about negative rates. koroda about negative rates. >> we saw what happened to the currency when the japanese went to negative interest rate, down briefly to that 120. rishaad: it strengthened. >> yeah, we are getting towards the end of the road comedy into those options for those around the world wanting to ease already at zero or negative interest rate environments. how much has the equity market been dictated by what is going on in china rather than the u.s.? thesia-pacific markets via commodities-based decoupled to

some degree. we have seen on occasions the australian market opening up or at least responding to leads arguably as much from shanghai or perhaps from hong kong than they are from the traditional leader, wall street. and you look at trade flows , you have world significant concentration risks for the asia-pacific region from basically greater china. rishaad: thanks a lot for that. hsbc private bank. >> it is 9:18 a.m. in hong kong. these are the stories making headlines around the world. 34 people killed in an explosion in ankara. police expect suicide bomber blew up a car close to the prime ministers office. wounding 125 other people. that comes less than one month after another suicide bomber killed dozens of soldiers in a convoy passing through the city, claimed by kurdish separatists

in response to turkey's military campaign against ethnic kurds. has calledi jinping on the armed forces to be more innovative. he told senior pla officers that -- that the army must be more preemptive and push technological and theoretical research. he called for what he described as "unique advantages in several key areas be a co- -- several key areas." more than 17,000 soldiers took part in the amphibious drill. soul and washington say the drills are defensive and korea saysile north their preparation for innovation. a u.s. general says he must assume that pyongyang has the ability to launch a missile that could strike anywhere in north

america. powered by over 2400 journalists and 150 bureaus around the world, this is bloomberg news. right, coming up, mainland tourists have a new favorite holiday destination. who has taken the mantle from south korea? that and more win "trending business" continues. ♪

rishaad: you are watching "trending business". i am rishaad salamat. holidaynumber one destination choice to thailand. what is the attraction here of thailand particularly for the chinese traveler? >> it looks like the chinese

traveler wants history, culture, and of course shopping. that,nd is best for followed by other destinations like south korea and japan. this, theeresting is change in chinese travelers are ,wo those who are younger 15-29, more independent, less prices it is and willing to spend more on themselves when on holiday. here is how it looks. chineseint 9 million went to thailand in 2015, a surge of 70%, a top destination. south korea comes up to that, 2% fewer arrivals than thailand. for japan, chinese visitors doubled to 5 million. we understand this trend has continued through this year. how about singapore? we know the huge a lunar of

casinos for chinese highrollers. , a 20% increase in singapore last year, but more chinese highrollers are giving singapore a miss. overall tourism receipts dropped. there is an overcapacity in terms of luxury shopping in the lion city. 2016, the tourism board predicts 0% to 2% growth. a is expected to be challenging year with the weak global economy, reforms in china , local currencies, all factors ,ade deter tourists spending not to mention rising competition from the rest of asia. it is a gloomy outlook for singapore tourism. retail therapy works, you know. rishaad: yes, thank you.

let's have a look at some of the stories making headlines. the wider chinese economy slows, recording delivering a 200 aircraft to china last year, more than airbus. boeing predicting more orders this year as they gear up to service demand for overseas travel. that set a record for boeing in a single market. airbus did 150 a planes to china last year. airline aiming to double , finding that shanghai disneyland will double demand for tickets. uneyao also considering joining a global alliance, sales tripling since last may. hong kong may be losing hope of sector, the air freight

a 15% drop in cargo in february , that after a modest jump in january. carriers have been struggling to increase for eames. cathay pacific reported revenue was down 9%. --uick word on mars a roddy maserati, the automaker saying the driver's side floor mat may become dislodged and stuck in the accelerator, making the car's speed up or this is the second recall in the past six months for maserati. right, well, we have to take a break. coming up, how china has made a $500 million bet on the yuan, practically worthless. the markets getting underway for the first session of the week, hong kong and shanghai getting underway.

will tell you what's happening , premarket, hang seng up a 10th of 1%. the opening numbers are next. ♪ ♪ mbeap ,y yowana

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and a cash deal, restructuring state owned enterprises. it has been seeking to unlock value from its land portfolio over the past year. blackstone will sell strategic nbangs and resorts to a insurance group, $6.5 billion three months after blackstar and bought the resort. right, well, premarket higher in hong kong. >> looking good. we are in the money when it comes to the markets in asia. we have seen strong gains, up 13% from the years low when it comes to this regional index. take a look at how hong kong and shanghai have opened, shanghai up 8/10 of 1%.g we did have that credit outlook from moody's.

citing the strong linkages to , economic, political, and in terms of the impact on the financial institutions in the city, but investors so far in the first few minutes of trade brushing that off. seeing strong gains elsewhere, the philippines up by 9/10 of 1% , malaysia also turned green, also seen gains of 1% when it comes to singapore. 8/10 ofa, asx 200 up 1%, strong gains from the financial and energy producers. as much as this is a week about central-bank action, we have the bank of japan and the fed meeting at the end of this week, it really is the energy story, the oil story, up over 40% since january 12-year lows, driving sentiment, sometimes stability returning to the oil market. up. under, miners

independence up by 10%, worley lng up up by him a 7%, by over 6%. , kansai,version reactors court order not to be operated. gains up bynding over 3%, selling off its lcd operations to the private equity firm phalaris. citicoverseas land to buy 431 billion yuan, up by him was 3%. downad: breaking news, 40%

, fell as much as 55% of the open, the shares have resumed .rading, winsway withis a cold distributor quite a few issues when it comes ebt,ts that, -- it's d posting a loss in the first half of the year as well. selloff when it comes to this particular company. more details on that. the battle over the fate of china's currency, bloody for the bears. traders have lost $600 million betting on the yuan. bloomberg news emerging markets at it or has been tracking all this. bears should pack up and go home. i see you got the memo. >> not quite. they shouldn't pack up and go

home. the expectations are for further declines good one must remember other economic indicators are down, so we do have a weakening bias for the economy. they need to do something to fix these things. rishaad: what is going on? there are so many negative bets on the yuan. thate must remember wants toc o finance the 6.5% growth, so they're keeping the yuan steady. we still have a consensus for decline. bear inre a yuan it for the short-term, you might want to go home. rishaad: there are a lot of people out there who have yuan

depreciation at the core of their strategy. are they revising that? it's not unusual with some of these big investment banks. had seven point 6, 7 .7, but i think that may not be true. we have seen people kind of revising those estimates with the boc governor showing us -- pboc governor showing us, need to attract financing. be that much, not but depreciation expectations are valid for that. rishaad: great for you to joining us. thank you very much. hundreds of millions of dollars worth of that's simply go down does not if the yuan weaken from its current level.

let's see where we may well be off to with his currency. let's try to illustrate this. the gist is we are currently at stronger levels than a lot of bets are placing the yuan to be at this point. simple chart right here, tracking one another. the line in the sand, or strike price, 6.60, so anything below that basically out of the money. if you stay below that, a further 800 million u.s. dollars worth of bets expire as worthless. where do we go from here? , let me showrecast you the distribution here of

this bar chart, where these forecasts are at the moment. i know you can't see these bottoms, but most of the forecasts for q4 this year or before the end of the year basically have the renminbi -dollar weaker from where we are. that is where most of these bets are. and this sense you do get a better understanding what analysts think the renminbi will be. if it does fall to that level, more of the options actions become in the money, depending on how quickly we get there. let me just and on one more chart, and you can take a look on your bloomberg, the second or third story, it actually shows you the basket of currencies against the renminbi, what the pboc says to focus on. this shows you the divergence between dollar-yuan and dollar

against the basket. i wanted to show you the diversions here and where we are at the moment. we are stronger against the u.s. dollar. or 649, butg at 648 if you measure it against the basket that includes a stronger yen, a stronger australian dollar, that takes you back to the level of 2014. a lot of these options are measured against the dollar-yuan . rishaad: thanks. some other stories per the finance minister bangladesh promises to hold the country central bank account for not telling about the highest in which $100 million was stolen from the bangladesh tank account -- bank account at the new york fed last month. the -- says he plans to meet, saying the funds

have been stolen by hackers and some of the cash traced to the philippines. the imf says asia should step up and take a leading role in guiding the global economy, speaking in new delhi, christine lagarde described the region as the most dynamic in the world. she predicted asia will drive two thirds of global growth over the next four years and urged officials to keep monetary policy loose while using fiscal policy to boost growth. john tsang hit back at moody's, keeping the long-term rate unchanged, but downgrading the outlook to negative and pointed to the credit profile. g says moody's has got it all wrong. >> they can look at economic conditions we have and actually maybe it is really time to consider that for hong kong. top mapmakern's

making a big push in the development of navigation guidance for driverless cars. they count or yard and google among his clients and want to create maps for autonomous vehicles by 2020. it will transmit real-time data from radar and other sensors. we use laser measuring equipment and other state-of-the-art technology to collect the mapping data, and our maps are therefore much more detailed and accurate. thesee been investing in technologies for use when autonomous driving is introduced. rishaad: ok, well let's have a closer look at that. tell us a little bit about this company. who are zenrin? are the largest mapmaker in japan, started its business seven decades ago from making .irst guide maps

over the years they have collected complete data of japan's topography and now provides map data to carmakers as well as google's map service here in japan. carmakers are trying to introduce autonomous driving rin ises around 2020, zen working on technology to transmit data. , soaad: tell me something what is special about the ones for these types of cars? are highywords precision and real-time. for autonomous driving vehicles, the information has to be really up-to-date. you can't rely on two-weeks old

an up, car to get driving safely, so they have to be updated with the most recent traffic information, signs, and road conditions. rishaad: thank you very much indeed. mapmaker, zent rin. asia will bet says the biggest food delivery market globally. we will talk to food panda's chief executive, coming up when "trending business" returns. ♪

>> it is 9:44 a.m. in hong kong. these the stories making headlines. german chancellor angela merkel suffer defeat at the ballot box.

voters reject her open border refugee policy. the christian democratic union failed and came second in the rhineland. viablell form a coalition after the anti- coalition picks up a quarter of the vote. hundreds of people rally across brazil protesting against corruption and calling for the impeachment of the president. march went through the center of major cities. business lawmakers and executives are embroiled and a corruption campaign known as carwash. machine three, man 1, winning the fourth of their five match contest in the board game go.

called the victory prices, apologizing to fans for losing hago.st alp they play their final match on tuesday. powered by over 2400 journalists and 150 bureaus around the world, this is bloomberg news. easier than ever to order food online, but not so easy for food delivery mobile apps. food panda founded four years ago, now covers 500 cities and 40 countries. joining me now is the cofounder and chief executive. thank you for joining us. is it 40 countries? that's quite amazing growth. by500 cities, so we measured cities. it is a city-based business. rishaad: what has driven this

growth? everything that is food and food delivery is one of the last remaining steps of the online revolution. it happened a fashion, travel, and now food. the growth has been coming from the shift of off-line to online behaviors. people are used to ordering food by calling the restaurants, and now they're doing it online. rishaad: it is still predominantly calling, isn't it? 90% come from the off-line channel, so huge potential for the online segment. the challenge is to educate and benefitmake use from the online opportunities, online advantages of food delivery as compared off-line. rishaad: which are? shorter to order online, plenty of choice, transparency, recommendations,

tracking through technology. we can also make sure we deliver faster than when you call restaurants to order. rishaad: why do think people continue to use the telephone? what is the wall in between? >> it has to do with mentality and generations. my youngest son is doing everything online. with the younger generations, there is a stronger use of online channels. over time it will become automatic, but were trying to etc. that shift. rishaad: what is the growth going to look like in the next 12 month? toa factor of six from 2014 2015. we think 2016 two 2017, accelerating growth further, restaurant partners and through recognition by the brand and service deployed in different markets. rishaad: which is -- where is the real growth coming from?

which geographical regions? >> it is mainly asia for us. food panda started in singapore for years ago and have been expanding throughout asia. in asia there is a strong food delivery culture, a faster growth from off-line to online. asia is the back home of our strategy. of our strategy -- backbone of our strategy. i think hong kong for us has been one of the fastest-growing markets out of all asian cities. i think it has to do with the fact that it is a very dense city, a city that is interested in new technologies, and the food city. it is a city of foodies and people interested in food and food delivery services. been -- growth here has i'm talking about organic growth. >> hong kong is one of the

markets where we did the least advertising compared to other markets, and also the strongest reorder rate, that means that if people start to use our service, the coming back more often in hong kong than any other market. we can experience even faster growth. what about india? that is a very competitive market. there is a culture there a food delivery. as adia it is even larger market. it has so many more cities. it is much earlier when it comes to the off-line to online shift. so india for us is a market. we are market leading as in the rest of southeast asia. to market is very different hong kong, but a market where we have seen equal growth. rishaad: there's one thing that is a glaring omission, that is

china. there is a huge hole there. why are people not going into china with this business model? >> we are concentrated on those markets where we became market leaders. those markets where they are still basically an understanding of the culture and behavior, which is something we don't have in the same way for the chinese market, which is a different market in terms of behavior, in terms of a petition, and a market where we would have a more difficult time to become market leaders ourselves. rishaad: when is the ipo? >> we are concentrating on growing the company. rishaad: is there an exist strategy question mark >> there is no exits strategy at this point in time. our strategy is to get in the markets closed a market leader, and continue growing. rishaad: thank you very much indeed. , japan's prime minister wants more women in executive roles, but the numbers are showing little progress.

we are going to ask why. that is coming up next. ♪

rishaad: this is "trending business". coming to live from hong kong. streaming on your mobile device. the japanese prime minister trying to encourage more women to enter the workplace, but the ratio is hardly moved and remains new the lowest in the developed world. let's bring in jodi schneider. there must've been some progress. has there been any? >> yes, there has been. from the figures bloomberg compiled, we see 400 women on corporate boards in japan, up from 230 women one year ago.

there are 1900 companies from which we are taking that. if you look worldwide and developed economies, deloitte did a study last year that showed women on boards in japan are near the bottom of that ranking, only south korea has fewer women on the corporate boards. rishaad: why is this reluctance there at the moment? why are companies not promoting females? >> companies want to put women on the board. there has been a lot of pressure , the administration pushing and very ways -- various ways, to put women on boards. few womenere are so and executive suites, there is not a pipeline to put them on the boards. that is exacerbated by the fact that japan, unlike the u.s., companies here are reluctant to

allow their own corporate executives to be on others boards, so there is not a place where women can get that kind of experience. they go outside the corporate sphere. that is not this pipeline there needs to be in order to have those numbers go up sharply. rishaad: any hope that things will change? , the prime minister is continuing to push, the administration is continuing to push. that might help. a lot of the women we have talked to say it will probably be the next generation of leaders, the women on the boards now are in their 60's, so they're looking to that next in a ration. muchad: thank you very indeed. jodie snyder there. one of the bright spots in the future for female participation in the board room there of corporate japan. up to present at the

moment. at why thailand has become the favorite getaway destination for chinese tourists. why are they heading there? we will tell you. stay with us. ♪

rishaad: it is monday, the 14th of march. i'm rishaad salamat. this is "trending business." ♪ rishaad: we are going to singapore. here is a look at what we are watching. -- asian markets, extending a global rally. regional benchmarks headed to since thet close fifth of january. china remains a concern. the latest data indicating a slowdown continues, keeping more pressure on the government as well as the growth target.

thailand is helping japan and korea, as the leading destination for a vacation. follow me on twitter. this is my handle. don't forget to use #trending business. trading in indonesia adding underway. green across the screens. here is heidi. heidi: empathy good way to kick off the trading week -- a pretty good way to pick up the trading week. we are seeing the sentiment carried through to the asian session. juste start of the week, coming online, putting on half a percent at the open. seeing very strong gains from the energy sector, from financials.we had a lot of central-bank action last week . this week, the bank of japan and the fed, meeting for the latter lf