♪ ♪ it is thursday, the 17th of march. this is "trending business" with me, rishaad salamat. ♪ live in tokyo and singapore this hour. trading down, japan's imports and exports fall again. australia's unpredictable employment numbers surprising forecast,500 new jobs instead we got 300 created, and the fed offering a more dovish

stance, rate hikes will be more gradual than thought. that yellen indicating movement in april still remains an option. do let us know what you think of our top stories. follow me on twitter @rishaadtv, include #trendingbusiness. china markets underway in half an hour. things looking good. more dovish than expected policy message, and that has set up the scenario for a positive session in asia. the only index trading to the downside is kiwi stocks, despite the better-than-expected data when it comes to fourth-quarter gdp. had 12land stocks have straight sessions of gains over the past couple of weeks, so

some profit taking there. nikkei 225 rebounding strongly as the yen comes down a little bit. singapore just coming online, up by 1%. despite a mixed bag when it comes to those non-oil domestic exports. quarter on quarter, things looking not that great, but the number was a beat. moment, anat the extraordinary jobs number, 300 jobs added to australian employment when it comes to february. 5.8%, betterr at than expectations at 6%. upside, the decline in

jobs in january revised down. we're seeing a very positive reaction in the aussie dollar. up 6/10 of 1% after bouncing 1.3% overnight. rishaad: were going to get back to what didn't happen. the fed sat on its hands, maintaining the current target range for the funds rate. david is here to connect the dots. david: we are talking about the dot plots. the green line represents the rate hike trajectory based on the projections. it is not a specific endorsement from the fmo see governors.

-- fomc governors. three things what were looking at, first the dots suggest to rate hikes, second markets think , andll only see just one third a view of both the markets and fed at the closest they've actually been. when we look at something of the green line, those are basically projections individually from the fed governors. based on fed funds rate in the medium forecast, if you read between the lines, it does look like we will get that first rate hike in september. let's have a look at this next graphic here it this is the other side of the same coin. -- at this next graphic. this is the other side of the coin. we are now likely looking towards the fourth quarter, september 4. 53% chance we will get that at

the moment. inflation, this is what is key, picked up. janet yellen was asked how this recent surge in oil prices and how that would change theoretically their policy. listen in. >> if oil prices were to increase to $50, that would probably slightly move up our expected path for core inflation, maybe speed how rapidly we would move back to 2% , but i would not think that would be something alone that would have great policy significance. this is the projected inflation path. 1.96%, the highest it has been going back to april of 2014. a lot of this upsurge down to

the surge in oil prices. right, will have a deeper look at that story later, market action as well. we do want your opinion. tweet us your opinion @rishaadtv , include #trendingbusiness. japanese exports falling for a fifth straight month, contracting 4%. what do these numbers tell us? >> overall the numbers aren't not good. they show that exports fell and fall you and were flat in value. -- they show that exports fell in for and were flat in revenue. we've been seeing gains in value and volume, but that has been slowing. we are essentially flat to the corridor, which is worrisome, because that had been a bright

spark. china, the numbers were up for the month, but there is a reason for that because of the dates of the lunar new year being different this year than last year, compared data is different. overall, exports are not great from japan, and the concern is with the continued slowdown from china that with china being japan's largest trading partner that this is a trend that is expected to continue. there is concern about what happens with gdp in this quarter. last quarter was a contraction, and if exports are not there to appreciating the yen, they are not, there are concerns there could be another contraction in the quarter we are in with the gdp. rishaad: thank you for that. joining us from tokyo. some other stories we are watching, the merger of so-called equals in europe. >> that's right. behemoth, thege new operator would be the

world's biggest exchange by a revenue, and the second-largest by market value. the merger is expected to complete by the end of this year ordering the first quarter of 2017, and likely to be examined by the european commission on competition concerns. there is still a chance that rivals could make counter bids. ahead, it'sgoes likely to result in a bonanza for the banks that put it together. as $85ould win as much million in fees, although that would have to be split at 11 ways because they used a street tote, hiring several banks make it harder for competing bids. the biggest american coal miner bankruptcy, peabody energy has lost 98% of market value and 12 months.

the coal industry has been crushed by falling demand, debt, tighter regulation, and rising petition from cheap natural gas. coal prices have dropped as much as 75% since 2011. and a regulatory filing, the buddy says that operations -- peabody energy says that that operations are in doubt. in the statement to the hong kong stock exchange, the company said it's looking at the potential impact of export restrictions on its business. te allegedly violated export controls on iran. te setup show companies to reexport products to iran. shares have been suspended since march 7. rishaad: were looking at

what a u.s. hedge fund is saying about the worst-performing stock market. have a look at it, bloomberg.com/asia. when than the biggest consumer battles with the oculus rift to hit the shelves. one man heavily invested in the industry, but right after this short break, the fed becomes dovish. where asking a portfolio manager for his predictions when we get the next rate hike. ♪

>> it is that the level on a global basis, and i don't think the fed appreciates it in terms of the modeling. the curve does not factor that in, but it is that that has come to the forefront from the past 10 years, and that's what we

need to worry about. >> most of those concerns have diminished, not that the world place, butetter volatility has declined. a certain amount of confidence has returned, and i think that gives fed policymakers both more confidence and more leeway in terms of raising rates going forward. >> i think the risk frankly from monetary policy throughout the world has created incentives to take risks. i think the central banks have , credithing on a string risks in the prior crisis, interest rate risks might he systemic risks this time around. some pretty mixed views on the fed's latest decision to scale back on its forecast.

what is your take? the fed came out fairly dovish. the medium dot was lower for next year, which was in line with expectations. they came out giving a sense that their more conscious of global rishaad: offense. the getting more and more international outlook, aren't they? to the currency because they know the ecb is cutting deeper into negative territory, bank of japan did that, and their conscious how much they can take to the fx route. if ecb and doj go deeper into negative territory, the fed might be more dovish. it is a difficult task for them. you have core inflation going

up. the latest print is 2% encore. core they are also conscious of the fact that a potential hear is potentiallyally -- there. china has been stable, has been trying to keep growth at 6.5%. rishaad: china represents a fraction of what the u.s. exports. 2015, thelook at slowdown in global trade became an issue because of emerging markets weakness. well, commodity side as

in the emerging market world, capital expenditure cuts have been announced there. what are the implications in this part of the world, if any? should do well. dovish is likely to be ,or the next month or two they're going to dissipate. equities in asia should do well. a lot of money went into japan and europe for the last two years because of monetary weakness. yen does not depreciate , then the case for japanese equities is to weaken a

bit. time before investors move from macro to micro in japan. on the macro side, asia is more interesting. earnings have been lacking. dollar and the bouncing commodity prices should help. and the bouncing commodity prices should help. rishaad: you are expecting commodity prices to rise? >> clearly you see that we have reached the bottom as far as oil prices are concerned. maintained or is up, the prices move perceived stress supposed to come into the system will not come in. the economic system, the real economy, the oil price should be playing out by now. termss a liking effect in of more positivity, another engine for growth, like an interest rate cut. >> at the same time you see the

n engines to the mai for asia, exports. the gulf, middle east, and africa, are not as much consumers because oil is down. in the short-term, it is still ahead win. rishaad: thank you for coming in this morning. these of the stories making headlines around the world. ofald trump has warned rights among his supporters it denied the republican presidential nomination. he's leading the race but may not reach the number of delegates to ensure automatic selection. win 54% ofp has to the remaining delegates by the time the primary season ien calls are growing for a congestedds. -- contested convention. the brazilian president has installed her predecessor as her

cabinet chief of staff. the move may energize the embattled president supporters, but also shield him from a corruption investigation. only brazil's supreme court can indict or try cabinet ministers. shares and a currency fell, but recovered later. football's governing body casting itself as a victim and wants compensation for the damage to its reputation. the new president acknowledged officials --of its bya claims it has been hurt corrupt individuals. powered by over 2400 journalists and 150 bureaus around the world, this is bloomberg news. rishaad: up next, samsonite

sales have hit a record despite tough trading conditions. we will break down the figures and ask how the company has bagged the biggest acquisition yet. ♪

i am rishaad salamat. hoyerief executive attack says he's confident about the market despite the slowdown. tag lawyer will improve sales in time. china is stabilizing. we are investing in china because we believe we are close to the in of consolidation and china will be back. maybe not in six months, but in 15 months or 20 months, so we

should never give up investment in china because china will be best. thatad: taking a look luggage maker samsonite and hong kong, the premarket session seeing a gain of 3%, a positive response from investors who are seeing these better-than-expected results come out of the luggage maker. tim parker, talk to him, chairman of the company, and asked him how he felt about their performance. tim: we are pleased with results and traded well across most regions of the world and across our brands. we did face some very tough headwinds from currency. >> impact beyond translation, you said. >> absolutely. if you look at euro the -- the euro, the dollar is up 16%, an incredible shift, so to trade well in that context was a

satisfactory outcome. >> where was the biggest bright spot? you mentioned europe? >> we had a very good year in europe due to the growth of our american brands, but very satisfactory trading in asia, japan, australia. business is building well in latin america. we were pleased with america as well. and theentioned japan austrian market as well, foreign exchange helping there. when it comes to sales in china, how can samsonite grow there? you're expanded into distribution, non-travel products sales, how can you give a lift to prices in the mainland? >> in china, you have to be smart now to do well. the consumer i think has become very discerning.

there are some interesting opportunities, specially e-commerce, tv home shopping. we also have a good spread of rounds from premium down to the lower end of the market. a good spread of brands from freemium down to the lower in the of the market. swings,lso saw currency how has that affected margins? >> good news on import prices, bad news on dollar. hasimpact of currency outweighed effectively some of the benefit we have had on import prices. there are shifts and margin, which are due in part to different brands doing well, and also due to distribution channels as well. rishaad: that was the samsonite international chairman, tim shares.a 3% gain for

let's look at what is happening over all. premarket up by 1.5%, similar gain for the futures contract as well. before you go to break, it is happy thursday, specially in denmark. the country has regained its title as the happiest in the world in an annual survey conducted by the united nations. the accolade is based on a variety of factors, public health, access to medical care, job security, and social benefits. intourvey also takes account political freedom and the level of perceived official corruption. iceland and norway runners-up, australia and new zealand seventh and eighth, but the deep in brunei.ople we will be hearing from the head of the london's dock exchange after they signed a deal

creating the biggest exchange operated by revenue. opening in hong kong, shanghai, numbers right after this very short break. ♪

you're looking at our top stories, asian stocks baha'is for more than 10 weeks after the fed scaled back expectations for rate hikes this benchmark gaining 13%, japanese shares climbing. gradualommittee expects adjustments in the stance of monetary policy, economic activity will continue to expand at a moderate pace, and labor

market indicators will continue to strengthen. itsaad: oil extending biggest gains in three weeks after producers agreed to meet. crude also lifted up by news about u.s. stockpiles less than forecast last week. japanese exports falling 4% in february, a bigger drop than anticipated. exports to the u.s. flat in value terms as the yen strengthened. imports plunging 14%, better than forecast. we have the open and hong kong, shanghai coming on line. renewede are seeing

risk appetite across the asian session. it has been several days of wait and see for investors, central bank after central bank, caution keeping sentiment on the sidelines. we are seeing buying appetite piling back in. the only market trading down, stocks.oc we're seeing quite a lot of strength when it comes to these energy stocks, metals on the back of that. iron or also seeing a rally along with all the other industrial metals and precious metals. open,ms of the china shanghai up by 3/10 of 1%, more dovish than expected message is good for a number of chinese corporate center take your --

chinese corporates in particular. also, singapore extending gains. exports coming through today, missing expectations. 1.5%i 225 resilient, up despite disappointment on imports and exports. weakening, so back where we started at the beginning of this week. i expected given what the dollar unexpectedht -- given what the dollar did overnight. rishaad: thank you very much. getting back to our top story. late 1990's, u.s. monetary policy focused on the

risks to global growth as well as domestically. this is quite something. even when you do compared to the late 1990's, this internationalism is quite startling. >> absolutely right. it shows how economic power is shifting ease. policy is having to sit back and look beyond u.s. borders. that is because of the increasing significance of what is happening in china. rishaad: number two and number three economies in this part of the world. >> look at china. contributing as much global gdp as it was. japan, swinging in and out of contraction. korea, and export engine struggling as well. you can repeat that story around

the region. , that's notat asia the case now. is there a chance that this part of the world could export some inflation? >> it is a big part of the u.s. debate. could asia send across treasure there? -- send across pressure at the moment there? when you look at japan's domestic inflation story, a long way from the 2% target. that's the same story around the rest of the region. rishaad: how might what happens in the asian pacific play out with the fed in the coming months? >> if we see financial market

, hugelyy on the yuan important for the world economy and janet yellen. if we see some contraction in the economy and see policy stimulus is working in china, growth stabilizing, that's a powerful signal. the chinauite know story and asia story for 2016, and that's the unknown for janet yellen. the fed's rate decision, that statement affecting what is going on with global markets. bank of japan this week as well this week. callsll amid top level for cuts indonesia. growth standing at a six year low at the moment. our southeast asian correspondent tells us what we will see today. cut, 15 outxpect to

of 24 analysts say the policy rate can be cut 25 basis points, 6.75%, the third month of cuts. this attracted him was $3 billion of inflows. the rupee the biggest performer among asian markets. there has been a lot of pressure from the president and his government to further cut. in an interview with bloomberg, he said that he would like rates to fall and keep falling. he wants it to be at the level of inflation. what it means is that the burden of stimulus is on the central bank, propping one analyst to say -- prompting one analyst to say it is a negative development , makes indonesia more exposed to market selloffs in the event

of a global shock. over ass will gloss long as risk appetite remained strong, but we know this changes quickly. inflation risks may heighten. economists say that with incremental cuts and other measures to boost money supply, latent inflationary risks will build and undermine macro stability. is thedonesia needs ability to keep up pace. need to the authorities be watchful of triggering inflation pressure. some degree of correlation. rishaad: thank you. today, to the big one that merger of equals deutsche .oorse

it will create the biggest exchange operated light revenue, and the second largest by market value. lse said the deal will be mutually beneficial. e hein this transaction because it brings together to companies that ,lready have a global strategy a global presence, but whose portfolio products is highly complementary. theaad: we also heard from chief executive of the deutsche boorse. it is truly a merger of equals, and this is because we both recognize and appreciate each other strengths, and the management team, the board, have come together to develop those strengths, and this is what we have done, and delivered an intermediate result by announcing today. the look at how profitable

versus alledge boorse. what you say to deutsche boorse owners? >> the business sets between the companies are complementary. hasgrowth that the lse driven over the last few years is deeply impressive, and that has resulted in multiple expansion, which is impressive, and overall trajectory of growth in its globally diversified businesses, which is very attractive, so the combination between the two houses is extremely productive into the weure, and we both know that must gain scale and order to become globally competitive, because we are roughly half the size of other houses in the rest of the world. >> you will be bigger after

this. if you have managed to convince shareholders this is a good deal , how do you convince the regulator? what is the conversation you are having with them as we speak? there have been a approach is made to a number of regulators already, others will be approached in due course. seek regulatory approval from many different authorities and , who all have to contribute to this transaction to become successful. i believe overall that it adds to price formation, price transparency, systemic stability , and many of the really important issues in the post crisis financial world and financial architecture, so overall we are well set up to have those conversations in a

constructive manner. up next, a reality check with our next guest. why he is predicting a record investment in the virtual reality industry this year. ♪

>> welcome back. it is 9:43 a.m. and hong kong. these are the stories making headlines around the world. president obama signed an executive order imposing new thetions on north korea for recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests, which the white house says the global community will not tolerate. north koreaes as sentenced a 21-year-old american student to 15 years of hard labor for stealing a

propaganda banner from a hotel. leading republicans say they will block president obama's nomination of a moderate judge to the supreme court. recentlyarland was bench, but to the mitch mcconnell said the senate won't consider anyone nominated by the president. republicans say the replacement should be picked by obama's successor. new york's famous plaza hotel is up for sale again, potentially ending years of ownership uncertainty. david and simon reuben bought the mortgage after majority owners defaulted last year. the plaza is 109 years old and sale comes at a time of strong interest in trophy real estate.

powered by over 2400 journalists and 150 bureaus around the world, this is bloomberg news. rishaad: facebook's oculus is less than two wakes -- weeks away from shipping. the headset is meant for serious gamers. changulus ceo tells emily what sets it apart from the competition. >> the rift is focusing on high quality virtual-reality, premium quality experience on the hardware, making sure it feels like consumer product, looks like a consumer product. the content, the software, making sure there are a lot of full-featured games, which is

what we have pulled together. said it sony executive might not be as high quality, but affordable. is that a compliment? acknowledged and that oculus rift will be the best experience. largelysomething pioneered and supported by enthusiasts, especially hard-core gamers. they want the best. having the best is a good place to be. long is a guy take others to start working on br games -- virtual-reality games. >> i think they will get into that space soon. it's different than mobile. , andwaited a long time instead went and acquired companies pretty late. i think in virtual-reality, they will come earlier. the reason being is the developers are dreaming about

for to reality. flat gamesn making on monitors, screens, tvs, cell phones for a few decades, and they've always wanted -- we have always wanted to make virtual-reality content, games, and now they can. is there a brain drain from the traditional gaming companies? big companies can offer them long-term great positions to lead virtual-reality and pioneer it. they flock to it. we've seen that happen at oculus. emily: i ask entertainment arts ceo about it recently. he said we are looking at. >> we have not ship the consumer product yet, so i think it's natural that are a lot of big-company ceos would say we are looking at it, but no one

has shipped the consumer product yet. hasn't shipped yet, and people often forget about it. it felt like when facebook acquired oculus of that things must have shifted, but they didn't. we dug in and built this incredible consumer product. goldman sachs says the market could be worth $18 billion in the next 10 years or it -- 10 years. thank you for coming. get to what you're doing, how is virtual-reality going to work? what lead you there? >> when i first saw virtual-reality, i said the same as everybody else when they put it on, this is the future, and there's no doubt. i have seen a lot of things that have happened. rishaad: have you had that

feeling before? >> never to this extent. when the mobile phone came out, , and what's going to happen with virtual reality is that it will improve and get much more interesting, but to tell you you are there wherever you are wanting to watch if you're on an iceberg or at a football match or a madonna concert, you look around and you are sitting there and watching. it is an extraordinary experience. rishaad: you said i have to get into this. you saw perhaps a gap in the market, not enough content. company, with this infinity house, and they were doing exactly what we wanted, which is content. content is always the answer, whether we go back to the movies in the 1900s. everybody could make projectors,

but everyone was shouting out, what can i see. content is the important thing. the record industry is the same thing. here we have the same thing. we have a wonderful invention and content will be the answer. rishaad: that is the rationale for buying this company. what are they going to do for you? >> the going to make content. what they're going to do is shows, shows and acquire which we will then be able to sell to the world. ofhave a whole stack productions we want to get into, but it is going to be enormous. i'm not the first of say that, of course. theater ands is , andps going down there

gaming to some extent. >> gaming will be enormous on it. one interest is theater, so we produce theater shows and invest in theater shows. we will be investing in a lot of live theater shows. the ambition is we will then start to film though shows in virtual-reality, but at the moment we are working the two things separately. rishaad: stick with us, if you would, so we can talk about the mechanics of all of this. we will continue our chat after this very short break. ♪

rishaad: you are back with

"trending business". thank you for sticking around. how do you get it into that headset? thereyou can imagine here that has 12 different cameras within it, so it is shooting the whole of the space. when one watches it, one is in the position of the camera and then turn around and see everything. isn't as exciting as being at a football match or somewhere else, but it is the principle. that thisou'd think is a better value proposition than investing in the movies, why? we actually came to a

decision when we decided to go into theater that there is more fight today in theater than there is in movies. theaters take about $1 billion a year, more than the movies in london. movie, $40 million, 50 lane dollars, 100 main dollars. a stage play is less, and the profitability is greater. rishaad: aren't you afraid of cannibalizing it? , theater has been around a long time. more people are going to the theater all over the world. rishaad: how does somebody who used to write songs for berry manilow, elvis presley, find himself doing this. noticed,t know if you there is no such thing as the record industry anymore.

people are not buying records, and so the next step is to say how can we advance a three-minute song. the answer is writing musicals. that was my first interest, and i started to write musicals. then i was approached by the sayingn with the idea of why don't we get into that business, which is a very profitable business if you get it right. into -- then you move he's the chairman of the company. >> tremendous experience in the industry. rishaad: jeffrey, thank you so much for coming in and sharing this whole idea of virtual reality headsets. gait ventures, chief executives. we have to take a break.

deals and discounts contriving to help profits soar for a chinese website. we will have details on a tenfold job, coming up in the next 60 minutes on "trending business". ♪

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