before. that is widening 38% from a year ago. much impact. we have -- not much impact. we are driving the overall indices in the session. in hongk not trading kong. weaker againsten a basket of currency. let's find out more. >> yen strength dragging down. health care is the biggest drag with declines of 3%. japanese pharma stocks not feeling the love after donald trump's remarks about the drug pricing in the industry. asia's least favorite

emerging-market in 2017, at least on fairly decent footing. a look how chinese and hong kong shares are faring in the open. we have the long sing marginally higher. higher.e got the yuan let's take a look at other equity markets. gains,ia continuing giving the materials rise we are seeing. new zealand weaker this morning, extending those losses. taking a look at southeast asian markets, we are looking at the dollar weakness supporting currencies in southeast asia. as for equities, that is extending gains. that is it rish. rishaad: lets tell you about our

first word news headlines. headlinesa making the does far. heir beingung questioned by prosecutors for investigating korea'sinfluence scanda that has already brought down the president. he is being named a suspect. prosecutors want to know whether samsung another companies make payments to the south korean president for political favors and access. volumes more than doubled the three-month average. ages best-performing stock this year, up 270% after last year's 90% plunge. bloomberg dennis join strong -- data showing strong interest in foreign investors.

the bank of england governor says the european union faces a greater threat to financial stability than the u.k. if brexit happens abruptly. mark carney made his strongest warning yet for a smooth transition. his warning echoes douglas flint, who earlier called for the two-year leaving period to be extended. boeing's biggest competitor itself in aommitted run-up to the inauguration. airs has a factory in alabama that employs over 1000 people. >> we have decided four years ago to invest in america not only because it is a big market for us, but this is the biggest place to be regarding aerospace. we create jobs. that, you don't know

that we are probably procuring more u.s. equipments they are competitors. -- than our competitors. bloomberg. ♪ as you have been hearing, donald trump making the headlines. pointed words for china and senate confirmation hearings. rex tillerson once a stronger presence in asia, does he not? it seems to be putting it out anyway. >> it is not necessarily happening according to rex tillerson. he says the south china sea flashpoint, and china's moves on what has been reported to be

weapons on this reclaimed claims -- rexhina illegaln calls those actions and extremely worrisome, of the russia's taking crimea. -by u.s.d by fewest senators whether we should take aggressive action to china, this was his reaction. >> we need to make sure that access to those islands will not be allowed. he mentioned china in any other facets. he criticized china for stealing intellectual property. he said he is not opposed to the trends pacific partnership,

which was a cornerstone of the obama administration, in his pivot to asia. rishaad: you think you would be agreeing with his boss in some way. >> she said that he shared some of his concerns. but maybe not in the purview of the state apartment portfolio. he said he had some reservations toward that. climate change, he said that needs to be reviewed. was a hallmark of cooperation between china and the u.s. he offered beijing an autoliv branch -- an olive branch, saying that china has been an ally. rishaad: right. north korea. stephen: i have not mentioned that. rishaad: what did rex tillerson have to say about that? kim jong-un is there.

stephen: we read the south korean ministry defense paper saying that pyongyang has increased its nuclear capabilities exponentially. faultedillerson has china for failing to rein in north korea. he says that the u.s. can no emptyr accept china's " premis" on pyongyang. he says this could be a way to improve relations. the united states still led by obama, sending a third fleet. an aircraft carrier is being redeployed to the western pacific. that is in addition to the uss ronald reagan, based out of japan. they are sending another carrier strike group out to the west of the pacific, at a time when china is sailing its aircraft carrier craft through the state.

rishaad: we are moving through more geopolitical tensions, aren't we? stephen: he says that the u.s. bill needs to support taiwan, but has not spoken on the one china policy. rishaad: more on china's decision to stop tariffs on ethanol byproduct. it could cut $2 billion in annual sales from the united states agricultural sector. what is going on here? >> you just mentioned the geopolitical tensions. this is a reminder of some of the things that can be felt in -- pains that can be felt in various sectors. -- up to 53.7%fs tariffs on dry ethanol production, used mostly for livestock.

china has become the number one billion fromund $2 their last estimates. these tariffs effectively close the u.s. exporters out of the chinese market. we have a chart that shows this comes at a pretty painful time for the biofuel industry in the u.s., particularly the producers of this tried to sellers grain. they have seen the prices fall since june of 2016. particularly bad timing for them . we have seen blocked imports of stuff as well. increased trade tensions. there is nothing on material between china and the u.s.. what are the water indications when it comes to u.s. -- wider

indications when it comes to u.s. agriculture if this continues to deteriorate? tom: to give you an idea how important china is for u.s. agriculture, iticked up 200% in the last decade. value, that was around 20.2 u.s. billion dollars by the end of 2015. some of the biggest imports since things like soybeans, maize, animal hies. could be inflicted, because china is looking at increasing tariffs on ethanol to 30%. little wonder that the biofuel industry will be pressuring trump to take action on this to his chinese counterparts to an area of contention.

this is a clear pressure point the chinese could use his could use if-- trump acts on these tariffs. in 2016, china extended u.s. imports tariffs on chicken. that was seen as a retaliatory measure after the was put a tears on chinese tires. the other thing to point out is that the u.s. is currently drawing up a case that it wants to bring to the world trade organization on alleged subsidies being used in the aluminum sector in china that it dumped on the u.s. market, pushing down prices. it can be much one of those things that gets out of control. this is a two-sided street.

thank you very much. that is our own tom mackenzie from beijing. more on these latest clues of what point trump plans to do in asia. and the chaos and bravado in his first news conference as president-elect.

rishaad: we have been talking about it all morning, donald trump's first news conference since becoming president-elect, standing on business and his ties with russia. we can expect the unexpected when it comes to asia. what did you make of this speech? you don't have to put it in the

context of asia, but overall. >> i think it was vintage donald trump. he has strong use, not clear -- strong views, not clearly explained in many cases, and he was aggressive. asia did not come up. it had in the hearings for the secretary of state. rishaad: that was interesting. tpp, theinto transpacific partnership. rex tillerson said he agreed with it although he shared, some of donald trump's concerns. dead of course, but maybe it gets resurrected with a different name. >> that is the hope, especially among numbers of congress. may beat mr. tillerson as well. or is one view of

president-elect trump, that he is a pragmatic dealmaker. that is a hopeful view. when it comes down to the nuts and bolts, i think he may find a way to make a deal. many in china and asia hope it ratherin that direction, than tariffs and currency manipulation. rishaad: would does it mean in a world that is changing? brexit and the rise of its part to it. what about that when it comes to asia and all of these tensions between countries here? mark: we have mixed signals at the moment.

we will see what happens when donald trump becomes president. tillersone, from rex today, he seems to have a strong view of the south china sea. whereas president-elect trump has been much milder and much less likely appears to be confrontational. these are different points of view. the u.s. becomes less active and the asia-pacific, does this allow others to fill the vacuum? that throws up another question mark, which would be him cozing up to donald trump. that would promote reinforced

access against a block against china. mark: it could be. we have to shore up other members of the asian alliance as well. through in some form, it will be delayed at best. there is not much support for it. part of the reason donald trump was elected is because many around the world are feeling that their jobs -- if they have jobs at all -- their incomes are not the way that was. it is because our jobs are going to china and other places. this is a big issue. somehow measures must be taken that look like they are

responding to that. rishaad: we are talking about the u.s. china trade war. it is unlikely to happen. it.could get elements of what are the options ? mark: everybody is a loser. although the u.s. still is the largest economy in the world, at the same time, it has more to lose in some ways than china does. it depends a little bit on direction. look at president trump's appointments. secretary of commerce, trade console -- strong anti-china statements. they have written books about it. terry branstad of iowa, a big supporter of trade with china. rishaad: that kind of contradicts each other. mark: just talk about how

important u.s. exports are important to china. rishaad: the thing is china still needs those. mark: there is talionation investment as well as trade. get restricted. the same thing could happen toward chinese entities. rishaad: when you put a tariff on chinese imports to the u.s., the retaliation would be to put tariffs on u.s. goods into china. benefit eithert side very much, including the u .s. if you look at the exports of every u.s. state to china, they

have much more in terms of industry. u.s. arees in the trying to trap chinese investment into the united states. it is a mixed picture. somehow the new president will have to deal with this. rishaad: how does it all end? talking about endings when we don't know the beginnings is a bit ridiculous. mark: talking about him being a pragmatic dealmaker. if he is, maybe it will push us forward to more productive areas. but i think there's a real danger in the short-term. there will be disruptions, and this will disrupt the markets. that will make people very nervous. it is not good for relations. you are always worried about miscalculations. rishaad: up next, paying the price for the yuan scandal, the

convicted byer singapore. details are on the way. ♪

rishaad: singapore has jailed its first foreigner linked into investigation with the state b, inflows fund 1md amounting to more than $1 billion. let's get to our southeast asian correspondent. this clampdown is continuing, isn't it? is gettinghty list longer. singapore is working to keep of interpretation as the least corrupt nation in asia. a former branch minister of falcon private bank has been convicted, which has since been

shut down by singapore. 6 charges, including failure to observe anti-money-laundering rules. he pled guilty to six counts, facing seven months in jail, a fine of 89,000 u.s. dollars. he engaged in deceitful conduct and lying to authorities. as you know rish, this is singapore's biggest money-laundering investigation. it has find some of the world largest banks. singapore is the only jurisdiction to charge and can mdb,ct in connection to 1 even though the probe is being done globally. what is the latest on this malaysian financier? >> he has not been charged yet. he has maintained he has not broken any law. we know that the u.s. has gone

with plans to seize his assets, a total of $1 billion allegedly 1mdb,red with funds from from the party are jet, to new york. cluster month, an l.a. judge blocked low from interfering in the lawsuit. it still may be years of legal wrangling to take possession of those assets. rishaad: thank you very much for that. let's have a quick check on the market action. hong kong and shanghai looking like a mixed bag. shanghai moving higher 2/10 of 1%. there is the nikkei, its strength affecting exporters,

dragging the index down. the head, we look at of commodities research. he says that the commodities super cycle has come to a running halt late last year, but is likely to continue. ♪

♪ almost 10:00 a.m. in singapore, 1:00 p.m. in sydney, 9:00 p.m. in new york city. i am rishaad salamat in hong kong. this is "bloomberg markets: asia." ♪ rishaad: payment, samsung apologizing after questioned by prosecutors as a bribery suspect. trump attacking the media in his first news conference as president-elect.

the first foreigner jailed under 1mdb investigation. jakarta the latest to start its session, a mixed bag, but a flat picture and hong kong. the strength of the yen playing out in tokyo. here is sophie. and that yen strength and dragging on japanese shares, the nikkei 225 mostly red, the health care segment seeing the biggest drop, 2.5%, japanese pharma stocks are following the route in u.s. health care companies given trump's comments on pricing and the industry not being competitive enough. drugmaker,'s biggest set to expand its u.s. footprint .