>> good morning. i am haidi stroud-watts in sydney. shery: i am shery ahn in new york. welcome to daybreak asia. markets welcome joe biden with asia extending gains. investors are betting his relief policies will boost corporate earnings. haidi: the president signed executive actions on day one.

is daunting to do list includes the coronavirus, the weakening economy, and worsening ties with beijing. shery: china grades joe biden with sanctions. beijing slams president trump and mike pompeo, describing their recent actions as crazy. let's see how asian markets are shaping up. sophie kamaruddin? sophie: after the asx 200 rose to an 11 month high, gains extended by 0.2 point -- 0.25%. it was trimmed at goldman and macquarie. ahead of the boj decision, nikkei futures opening to the downside. the yen is trading at a two week high. little change to the downside after u.s. stocks rose to a record as biden became u.s.

president. crude below a dollar a barrel. jp morgan reducing demand for china. flipping the page, optimism does remain. em companies are seen outperforming the global recovery this year. profits for em's rising 28%, given the lift in commodity prices. pulling up a chart on the terminal, goldman bullish on em stocks, saying they have historical highs ahead of them. with profit looking optimistic, raising the target to 1450. this after a solid run by equities. shery: our top story, president joe biden has leapt into action

after being sworn in as the 46th president of the united states he signed a raft of executive orders, reversing some contentious policies and he is re-joining the paris climate accord, the w.h.o., and has a federal mandate on mask wearing. democratic senator chuck schumer becomes the chamber's majority leader. emily wilkins is in washington. it was a long list of executive orders. give us the gist of the most impactful ones. emily: you mentioned the big ones, rejoining the paris climate accord, the world health organization. biden requiring masks on federal property and challenging americans to wear our mask for the first 100 days of his presidency.

there are also several other coronavirus related executive orders, expanding the moratorium on evictions, as well as holding off on collecting federal student loans collecting interest. this pandemic continues to ravage the united states. haidi: in terms of the challenges facing the new president, what is the likelihood we will see a massive stimulus deal getting through in its entirety, given we have seen expected pushback? emily: we have seen moderate republican senators say they have concerns about passing a $1.9 trillion package after the house passed a $900 billion package a few months ago. they are worried about debt and pumping too much money into the economy. there have been discussions

about what to be done. the biden administration is hoping for bipartisan support. they don't necessarily want to pass it with only democrats, though there is a mechanism to do so if the need arises. shery: emily wilkins on the ground in washington, at the end of inauguration day. just as joe biden was sworn in, china issued sanctions on mike pompeo and other trump officials. the timing was interesting. why this reaction from beijing? >> they effectively waited for the door to close on officials before imposing sanctions. 28 people on the list, former administration officials including mike pompeo, and peter navarro, the former national security advisor robert o'brien. also, the former u.s. ambassador

to the united nations, kelly cragg, all sanctioned by beijing for what they said was there -- their role in "crafting crazy moves" that undermined the china-u.s. relationship. they will not be able to travel to china or do business with china in the future. none of the members of the trump family were sanctioned themselves. ivanka may breathe a sigh of relief. they said, good riddance, donald trump. haidi: how has china responded to biden's inauguration? are they more hopeful? tom: i do not think officials are naive. they are looking to start cooperation on a couple of friends with the biden administration.

they have urged mutual respect, but also say they have their own redlines and underscore that with issues of sovereignty. they are saying the two sides could engage in cooperative competition and look forward to dialing back of rhetoric. we are seeing officials and state media suggesting climate change is one area of potential cooperation between the two sides. i do not think officials are naive. the trump administration locked in aggressive net -- measures, whether sanctions or curbs on investment into chinese companies. the biden administration is unlikely to walk back quickly, but there could be cooperation on areas like climate change. shery: we will get more insight into u.s.-china relations with the former ambassador to china,

a former u.s. government official. here are the first word headlines. india said it can ramp up covid vaccines to half a billion doses a month, amid rising interest from europe, the middle east and africa. the astrazeneca shock -- shot has drawn interest from the u.k. and belgium. india is working on its own coronavirus shot. italian lawmakers approved new government borrowing worth another $39 billion. prime minister conte won narrowly. he said the extra funds will help businesses undermined by the pandemic. bloomberg intelligence expects the italian economy to contract more than forecasted. chinese premier li keqiang is

calling for more government support for the economy, saying huge insurgencies -- uncertainties remain. they must have backing to have sustainable development. china aims to keep within a reasonable range in the latest five-year economic plan. those were your first word headlines. haidi: we will be discussing president biden's economic policy with a business professor. he will be joining us later. first, the market outlook. why she is bullish on all things em this year and which sectors in particular she is watching. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪

haidi: asian stock markets were poised to follow u.s. markets higher. optimism of a new fiscal package, despite the worsening coronavirus. a strategist joins us from london. in the first hours of his presidency, president biden signing executive orders. how does this change the investment landscape? what drivers are out for the u.s. dollar? and where emerging markets go from here? lale: thank you for having me here. first of all, i have to say we are optimistic about growth for 2021. what the biden administration and in the majority they have in the senate is flipping a script of the outlook we have. that rotation we have seen into value in 2021 will likely have

more room to run. that is one twist the senate outcome is bringing. also, deflation trade that has been going on since september has more room to run, which is one of the twists that we have as we will see in 2021 for the markets. shery: within the emerging markets space, where are you looking at opportunities? where do you find value? lale: for china we are still optimistic for 2021. beyond china, we think the chinese economic recovery will bolster other asian countries, southeast asian countries. i am thinking india and indonesia.

you mentioned earlier india is doing vaccine production. the tangible output is coming back regarding manufacturing output, agricultural output, which makes me optimistic. they are very proactive in the vaccine rollout, which is one of the things that makes me optimistic. overall we think that recovery in asian countries will broaden to southeast asian countries. haidi: are there any sectors you are looking at? when it comes to the north asian rally we have seen the tech sector lead the way. when it comes to the southeast asian economies, we do not necessarily have those tech giants to count on. lale: we are looking at investing in a pandemic environment, we are looking at

more long-term effects the pandemic might bring forward. basically that is how the pandemic changes consumer behavior. we are concerns about health care, insurance, internet stocks, which have not only benefited from the pandemic environment, but also have strong cash generation. on top of that, there is a cyclical story. because economic recovery will broaden to other emerging market countries, consumer spending and financial service names will also benefit. shery: broadly speaking, we have seen record rallies when it comes to emerging market stocks. i am wondering if some geographies have run faster than

expected. should investors be avoiding certain sectors that have rallied too much already? lale: for china i think it is still very resilient. we are quite optimistic about china still, even though they are more expensive. overall i would say not asia. southeast asian countries will bring much in 2021. shery: thank you, lale akoner. coming up, a look at what joe biden has done on day one to tackle the pandemic and what he might do next. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪

>> i think we are going to see a

much stronger coordinated federal effort to roll out these critical public health efforts. >> the number one thing they should be doing is getting more vaccine into the commercial channel and forgetting about this central planning. >> we do see vaccines being an important dynamic to get us out of the hole we are in. >> all routes to prosperity for our country flow through curing the virus. >> with a very clear federal partnership using their logistic ability, manufacturing ability, to make sure we do not run out of syringes, we aree -- we are echoing the public health message. shery: some guests on the challenge the biden administration is facing. among what president biden signed his first day in office, a mandate on mask wearing.

let's get the latest from michelle. this mask mandate is mostly on federal property. i wonder what the practical implications will be? the symbolism is huge. michelle: you are exactly right. most people who are entering into federal offices these days are following procedures like wearing masks and social distancing. president biden has asked all americans to embrace wearing masks for the first 100 days of his presidency. it is the idea of getting the entire country to work together to get to a common end. hopefully there -- if there are people on the fence, they can understand doing this is an easy thing to do. it is hopefully no longer a political message to not wear our mask. hopefully more people will get on board and that will continue to help suppress the number of

cases we are seeing. shery: that addresses practical elements of how he wants to get this pandemic under control. there are big institutional changes in terms of the withdrawal from the w.h.o. and the commitment to the vaccination initiative. michelle: president biden wants a more federal approach across the u.s. when it comes to the outbreak. that is nationally wearing masks. he committed 20 billion dollars to accelerating vaccination efforts. also as you point out, he wants the u.s. to be a bigger player when it comes to the global stage. covax is the program the w.h.o. runs to get vaccinations to the world, is -- which is where the

reservoirs will be. the u.s. is the biggest country in the world. us being involved will make a difference and that is something president trump was not inclined to participate in. working with the w.h.o., coordinating globally our response can only help in the future. shery: give us an update about the vaccine rollout in the u.s.. we heard issues with the moderna shots and in new york we are running out of shots already. michelle: absolutely. i promise that at some point as we get a little more under our belts, it will get easier. some of the flaws we expected and the hurdles we expected in the development and manufacturing of these vaccines, that went so smoothly. people don't realize it is a hurdle.

we know about the transit. 40 vaccines, they have to be kept very cold. now we are seeing the moderna vaccine has fallen below the freezing levels. making perhaps that vaccine not effective. they have pulled some availability for some areas. those folks will need to wait to get the vaccines because we are not sure if those extra cold ones will be viable going forward. we are not entirely certain if the new york shortfall was called -- was tied to that. shery: we have to interrupt you. president biden speaking at a ceremony for political appointees. >> all of us here have the great

privilege of serving our country and joining you in -- i was pleased to hear some of your stories in the hiring process. you thought you were perhaps -- others have never worked in government and will bring new perspectives to the work that lies ahead. some of you are the first in your family to graduate college. if you are veterans -- you are veterans, the daughters and sons of immigrants or our immigrants ourselves. some of you interviewed for jobs while wrapping up a presidential campaign, or some worked while fighting covid or helping family members who were ill. each of you has answered the call to serve. having worked in government, i know that no public servant does this work alone.

i would like to welcome and acknowledge the friends and family of all our appointees who will support the work ahead. it is my privilege to introduce a true public servant who i was lucky to work for several decades ago who will administer the oath of office to the president. pres. biden: thank you. hello, team. i mean that sincerely. we are one team. jill and i, kamala and doug, are humbled by today's inauguration. what a tremendous opportunity we have. i am looking at your photographs. i really mean it. we have an obligation. we always have a great privilege. very few times does an individual get an opportunity to do something that can fundamentally, positively impact

other people's lives, not just here, but around the world. we are working with the most decent government in the world. we have to restore the soul of the country. it is not hyperbole. the only thing i expect with certitude is honesty and decency, the way you treat one another. i mean that sincerely. people don't work for us, we work for the people. i work for the people. they pay my salary, they pay your salary, they put their faith in you. i have an obligation. we have a promise to look like america looks. that taps into the best of our nation. it includes a full range of talents.

that means asking you and your families to serve. we are honored you accepted the call. i am not being solicitous when i say this. we owe your families, those of you in the white house, those in other agencies. we will work like the devil. we all do. we put in long hours. it is not something you should do unless you care about it a great deal. there are few moments in history when our nation has been more tested than we are now. public service will matter more. history will measure us and our fellow americans will measure us by how decent, honorable and smart we have been in terms of looking out for their interest. to contain a pandemic, to administer vaccine, it will be the most consequential

logistical thing ever done in the united states. it will take an awful lot. and rescuing an economy. we have so many opportunities to build back so much better. i have heard from the beginning when american people get a chance, they have never let their country down. that is not hyperbole. some thought in the press when i said i was running for three reasons, i said i was running to restore the soul of america, common decency, honor, your word, doing what you say you will do, treating people with respect. my dad had an expression. every single person, regardless of background, is entitled to be treated with dignity. i expect you to do that with all the folks you deal with, the folks we work for, the american

people. they will try to keep us safe and secure from threats, to root out systemic racism. we reached a point where the american people had blinders taken off. they have been taken off and realized, they did not realize how much systemic racism still exist because they did not live in large minority populations. all of a sudden, they see what happened to george floyd, with his nose pushed against the curb, suffocating to death and martyn -- murdered. a man had the courage to take that picture and the whole world responded. we have a chance. we have a chance to change things. the reason i got involved in politics at 22, to try to change redlining.

i really mean it. you should not be doing this unless you feel it. i always say, a simple proposition. i trust people more, who the idea starts in their gut, goes to their hearts, and is articulated by a good brain. rather than someone who thinks intellectually, but never feels. it should start in the gut, moved to the heart, and have the intellectual capacity to do what needs to be done. we have a lot of opportunities. we can meet this existential threat of climate change. the world has figured out it makes a gigantic difference, these unseen threats, air you can't breathe. so much more we can do. we have an awful lot to do. i know you, i know your heart,

your dedication. we will do it by leading with one core american value, humility and trust, collegiality, diversity, competency and family. i want to thank your families for the sacrifices. if you're ever working for me and i hear you treat a colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, i promise you i will fire you on the spot. on the spot. no ifs, ands or butts. everybody is entitled to be treated with dignity. that has been missing in a big way the past four years. i am confident you have the capacity to do it. we will be judged, whether or not we restore the integrity and

competency of this country. i need your help badly. i will make mistakes. when i make them, i will acknowledge them and tell you and i will need your help to help me correct them. we will not walk away, we will take responsibility. that is what so many of you have done in your career and i expect you to do it again. i am happy to join all of you. there are almost 1000 of you on this call and your families. thank you very much. in this nation, everyone is given an opportunity. that is who we are as a country. that is who we have always been thought to be. i was asked a long time ago when i was with xi jinping on a tibetan plateau. he asked me at a private dinner,

with an interpreter, define america for me. i said yes, i can do it in one word. possibilities. possibilities. we believe anything is possible if we set our mind to it. unlike any other country in the world, possibilities. we are going to get this done. i am honored to administer the oath of office to each of you. if you will raise your right hand and repeat after me, i, state your name, do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, that i will bear true allegiance

to the same, that i take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which i am about to enter, so help me, god. thank you. welcome. as my mom would say, god love you all, we have a lot of work to do. thank you for being willing to join. goodbye. >> are there concerns your cabinet nominees have not been confirmed yet? pres. biden: i am not concerned. i am confident we can move quickly. >> how do you plan to unite america? haidi: you have been listening

to president joe biden administering the oath of office for political appointees. he talked about a lot of work to be done by americans, including on climate change, not to mention the vaccine rollout, a complicated rollout. he talked about decency and respect missing in the past few years and an anecdote of meeting president xi, saying one word to describe america would be possibilities. he talked about leading with american values such as humility and trust. we have seen more than a dozen executive orders signed by president biden this evening. one of his big challenges will be pushing for more aid. he unveiled an initial economic recovery plan worth almost $2 trillion. joining us to discuss is austan goolsbee, a chicago professor

and former chair of advisors under president obama. also, kathleen hays. thank you for joining us. it was your reaction to this historic day and the minimum that needs to get done when it comes to this package to get the recovery going? austan: it is always an exciting day when there is a transfer of power. it is important we have a fundamental change of strategy in dealing with the virus. you saw that in the inaugural address. he talked about this winter of peril. the idea that we have to get control of the pandemic to help the economy grow is really going to be the fundamental fact facing the incoming administration.

they have got to get money both on the public health side of that to get the vaccine out and equalize and normalize distribution, but they also have to have hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars of relief money to businesses, states and local cities, and to people. otherwise, we will face millions of people getting permanent damage done. there will be politicized gridlock. we will not see it necessarily to the same level we saw it last year because there is not a presidential election going on and everyone is hurting. it is not just democratic places. it is the entire country. i think there is a little window

that they might be able to come together and agree on some things. kathleen: we already saw questions raised at janet yellen's testimony this week. a lot of people are asking, we need to send trillions, but let's put it in the right place. why send $1400 relief checks to couples making $149,000? they are working from home and have never been unemployed. couldn't we give it to the people who are really hurting? is this mis-could it bespending? ? austan: that is targeted. by no means are the $1400 checks the only thing in the package. the advantage of checks is that they go out the fastest. the disadvantage of checks that

are somewhat universal is that they are not targeted. they may argue about what should be the top range, but only a tiny fraction of the money would go to people with incomes you are talking about. most of the money would go to the middle class and below. the reason why the administration wants that, that is money that can get out the door right away. you want to have some redundancy where, if you are a lie on only one rescue or relief payments, if the logistics don't work, nobody gets the money. in the first round of the c.a.r.e.s. act, if we had relied on the trillions that went through the main street lending facility, virtually none of that money got out the door.

they were not able to put together a program to get the money out. you do want to have checks and balances. kathleen: the personal savings rate has gone very high over the past year. i want to ask you specifically about an interesting point you raised in your research. you talk about how important it is to get the pandemic under the -- under control. as long as households, businesses, governments see a lot of virus, people automatically pull back. tell us what that is and what it means for the new stimulus plan and joe biden. austan: that is very important. i have done a fair amount of economic research looking at the data that shows that. it is basically spread over 102

different industries showing the same thing you see with airlines. there is no law that forbids people from flying on an airplane. the reason the industry is on its knees is because people are afraid to fly. that is true in all sorts of service sector businesses. anything face-to-face, the lockdown policies are not the main barrier. if you compare places where they had policies to places where they got rid of it, they performed basically the same. the main driver is people's fears. how that affects this relief package the biden administration will try to put forward is, if they can't get control of the virus, the effectiveness of everything will be called into question. the baseline thing they have to do is give people confidence

that if they walk out of their house, they will not catch a potentially fatal disease. if they can do that, the money that goes out either from checks or food stamps or lending, all of those things can get traction. i do think the biden administration understands that. that is why it is the first thing out of their mouths. kathleen: a lot about the $15 per hour federal minimum wage. one cited a study that at a minimum, it will cause 1.3 million worker job loss. that is a lot of jobs when you have millions out of work. as an economist, do you see any reason to say we should not go too fast on this? austan: as you know, whenever

they pass minimum wage increases, they decide on phase ins, a multi-year transition. the older view is that minimum wage increases were damaging to employment. research of the last 20 years suggests that is overstated. you have seen a lot of states and cities raising the minimum wage without much unemployment consequence. joe biden ran for president saying these are the things he wants to do if elected. you have 81 million votes and he won the election. these things are popular among the american people. i think republicans have a bit of a problem on their hands.

maybe it is just political problems, but they have the problem they are arguing they don't want the incoming president to do what he would do if he got elected. it is not a surprise he is going to do the things he said he would do. shery: we have not heard much about how that will get paid for. the logic has been, it is not time yet to talk about how to pay for these things you need immediately. when will the right time, when you consider the budget deficit, increasing debt? austan: this is all in the political context the trump administration and the people who fought against the obama program would increase the deficit, immediately turned

around when a republican president was in office and passed a $2 trillion unpaid for tax cut to big corporations and a income people. -- high income people. i don't think the argument will have as much traction, when the same people who voted for a $2 trillion increase from tax cuts turns around and says we cannot afford to make a $1.9 trillion investment in disaster recovery. during a disaster is not the moment when you want to be considering how do you pay for it. you would not want in the middle of the war to say let's cancel half the army. you want to spread that out with debt.

the vice president made it clear -- the president made clear how to pay for it. he wants to take the high income tax cuts and corporate tax cuts from the two -- from the $2 trillion package and get rid of them. kathleen: at some point, we assume we will not have an increase infinitely. how do we know when we have done enough stimulus and don't need another package? bond yields are staying low, even with this spending. the dollar has weakened. if the fed pulls back on bond purchases, will that create a situation where we see an unwelcome rise in bond yields as people see the debt mountain and

decide not to hold so many? austan: to me, that sounds overblown. many advanced countries have higher debt ratios than the u.s., higher taxes, all of those things already. the u.s. is in a favorable position. i don't think the fed -- if you look at this, we had an explosion of rescue and relief spending during this pandemic, following on the multitrillion dollar tax cut of the trump administration. the debt service burden with that increase in national debt, the debt service payment has gone down. there is no sense in which the market is saying they think the u.s. is not good for the credit. the argument that this increase

in the deficit from making these investments now will fundamentally be different than what happened three years ago when donald trump massively cut taxes and it was supported by republicans. that does not seem plausible to me. shery: always great having you with us, austan goolsbee. and kathleen. thank you. we have breaking news. china mobile and china unicom are seeking a review of the new york stock exchange's to lift the companies. this is because of a former initiative of donald trump to punish companies with ties to the chinese military. they went back and forth when it came to delisting these companies. china mobile and china unicom

are seeking a review of this delisting. they want to take the company and shareholders. they want the review on january 20. plenty more to come. this is bloomberg. ♪ his is bloomberg. ♪

haidi: before we get a check of the markets, we have a miss when it comes to japanese exports for

december. 2% rather than 2.4% as expected. a big fall of over 11% when it comes to the import number. let's get a look at the markets with sophie. sophie: lower reaction in the yen. singapore open to the upside. we are waiting on the boj decision. moving to the upside after u.s. stocks went to a record overnight. checking australia, the asx at an 11 month high with tanks and tech gaining ground. energy shares under pressure, below $53 a barrel. gold producers in sydney are gaining ground. trading 1870 this morning. some lift overnight for gold. this rebound in aggregate

commodity prices has been a boon for commodity related equities. projections are signaling caution for optimism of the 122 msci materials index. 82 are expected to see prices rise. the average potential return is 6.6%. when it comes to stocks, the highest upside potential in this space, all our chinese players, two in gold. a return potential of nearly 84%. the bottom three in the stack, including two chinese energy companies. there is return potential at below 27%. haidi: let's take a look at alibaba. investors breathed a sigh of

relief. jack ma, his first public appearance in about a month. stephen engel is following these developments. i got an email from an investor jokingly saying, that is a unique way to add value to your stock. the disappear and come back. a short video clip -- stephen: less than 60 seconds of video creating $58 billion worth of market value. in hong kong, the stock was up 8.5% yesterday. the adr in new york up 5.5%, capping a five day rally of 18% up for alibaba. why was it significant? he was participating in an online session with local

schools in china, talking about the need to emphasize poverty alleviation in the countryside and the widening wealth gap between urban and rural areas of china. these are areas the communist party wants to promote. it was less than one minute. he said nothing about the chinese clamp down on alibaba that led to the speculation of jack ma's whereabouts. what it said to the markets and investors, the worst case scenario -- our minds extrapolate to the worst case scenario when someone goes out of view. that allows investors to price out the risk that this will be a worst case scenario. he is not necessarily in jail. he is still in public view.

he would not do this video without approval of the chinese communist party. there was a gag order to report on alibaba and the antitrust investigation. global times and other media did put out this video of jack ma, indicating he is going about somewhat normal order of business. his talk we saw, the snippets seen here, a stark contrast to the comments he made the last time he appeared publicly more than a month ago at the conference where he criticized state owned banks and regulatory bodies in china. shery: what do we know about the broader scale of beijing's clampdown? stephen: they are revising their antitrust laws that were last revised in 2008.

these have been coming out in fits and starts. since the ipo was scuppered. the central bank released within hours of this video of jack ma -- i will read a snippet. it stipulates any non-bank payment company with 50% of the market in online transactions or two entities with a combined 2/3 share, could be liable. they will get a one-year grace. -- they will get a one-year grace period to comply. alipay has more than 50% of the market. haidi: we do have breaking news.

twitter locking out the chinese embassy to the u.s. over a post on uighurs, the minority in the xinjiang region. twitter saying they violated dehumanization policy. this is bloomberg. ♪ this is bloomberg. ♪

>> welcome to "daybreak: asia," from new york i am shery ahn. haidi: sydney's major markets have just open for trade. our top story as what -- joe biden is welcomed, investors are betting his relief policies will revive growth and boost corporate earnings. shery: the president signs a

wealth of executive actions on day one, it includes the handling of coronavirus, a weakening u.s. economy, and relations with beijing. sanctions on the outgoing illustration, beijing slimes president trump and mike pompeo describing their recent actions as crazy. let's take a look as major murders come online, first -- sophie: we are seeing green across the screen with a moderate six tents of a percent. this is the latest trade data from japan, experts rising for the first time in more than two years in december. ahead of the doj decision, they may see some bear pressure as the yen holds near a two-week high. we also watched part of elements around news that japan may be looking to improve -- approved the pfizer vaccine. this is a country and to vaccinate most of the country by the olympics. flipping the board, out of south korea look for any news in the

pfizer vaccine as they will get doses for 50,000 early this month. this will also adjust the trade neighbor -- numbers when it comes to south korea. the kospi extending for the third session and the korean won is gaining ground. we had experts showing resilience as demands for tech products is still improving. we are watching for the ministry meeting on the industries in future, cars and ships plus the -- they are excited to release gdp growth trends earlier today -- by midday. we have aussie shares being led higher by banks. the asx 100 headed for a third day of gains, we are seeing a mix in sydney shares with energy stocks mostly under pressure as it is trading below $53 a barrel. gold stocks we are seeing them -- as bullion is under pressure. this as biden was inaugurated as

resident and with that, u.s. stocks rising to a record overnight. >> it has been a day of ceremony as the u.s. eggnog rated its 46th president and joe biden wasted little time signing a rash of executive orders. let's go to our correspondent. so much to discuss, but let's start with those executive orders because we had more than a dozen, give us the key takeaways. >> covid is the one he wanted to highlight, this is the number one priority for this administration. just a week ago they were talking about dual priorities or three-headed priorities, now it is just covid because this is just how bad things are getting. he is requiring wearing masks on federal property, banning cross-border travel, he is an issue -- essentially begging

americans to wear one for at least 100 days everywhere else. he is also taken some steps to extend -- on student loan payments, a deferral on foreclosures and evictions, rejoining the players -- paris climb accord which includes extending a permit on the keystone pipeline. he is doing all these things but we are seeing the pomp and circumstance debate give way to what has been the reality in republicans pushing back. a lot of what biden wants to do depends on congress, it is very unclear right now much appetite there is in congress for his brand of bipartisanship. >> in some anyways this is different compared to others. >> of course, personal trump was not there, that has not happened in a century, biden and his people did not seem that upset, they lock -- likes to knock them over the head but gave him relief.

they did not have big crowds, this is both because of the pandemic and the security threat , the inauguration took place at the same building that was stormed by president trump supporters two weeks ago that of course killed five folks and upset a lot of people in the aftermath. those are different, he did a shorter walk than normal, again pandemic security risks. and then he got right on to work by doing these executive orders, he had a prime event coming up tonight and we will see where he goes. donald trump begin the day in washington, flew to florida and of course he is banned on twitter so i have not gone this long without hearing from him one way or another. so, we will see, he did warn before leaving the that he said we will see you again soon, so he is hinting at some sort of political afterlife if not a candidacy, then some sort of influential role.

shery: we will see what happens with the impeachment trial, so many things hanging still on the air. you mentioned that republicans had been pushing back when it came to the stingless package so i still wonder how long a honeymoon popo will last with joe biden if there is one. he won something within days or weeks, republicans historically -- there is a lot of what they would see as poison, the biden's 1.9 trillion dollar package is an open -- open offer, not a raiment through situation. we will see that further planning for testing and vaccines, we had another story today, biden's advisers are growing increasingly worried this pandemic is worse than they thought, worse than they thought even before that, the cases have more than doubled, the deaths have more than doubled daily

since he won this election. it looks like covid is going to be the only thing on his mind. >> our correspondent there with the new biden administration. they are also following the usb a bit higher, spending will revive growth and bolster corporate earnings pushing the s&p 500 overnight near highs on inauguration day. let's bring in our chief asian market strategist at j.p. morgan. great to have you, we have seen in the first few hours of this presidency a number of executive orders and actions being signed by the president, he had the ground sprinting if you will, if you take a look at this stingless package, parts of which may not get through, lawmakers, how does this potentially change investments in the landscape for investors in asia? >> i think it will not change that much first of all it was a

general consensus that the u.s. government will continue to support the economy on a fiscal front, it is clear that a federal reserve will see -- be in no hurry to -- policy in the future. from that perspective i think the $1.9 trillion fiscal package is in line with market expectation. i think a second point, the key focus is to control the pandemic because that is very much the only thing that is going to drive the economy or place of the economy if the u.s. can manage to improve a situation. and as the vaccination program expands, that should be a constructive environment for risk assets. i think what we have seen in the past 12 hours is in line with what markets expect. haidi: in terms of specific

opportunities for asia and as you look at the fear of emerging markets, where do you assess the trajectory of the u.s. dollar under a biden presidency particularly with a -- the handling of the pandemic and how the vaccine rollout continues? >> we think the u.s. dollar has a downside for a number reasons, the ever-growing fiscal debt and the deficits that have always been a negative factor. on top of that you still have very low interest rates in real terms to take into account and also if we are right that -- we are right that the economy is improving, risk appetites will continue to improve and that traditionally is bad for the u.s. dollar. the deficits and also the civic factors in terms of rates and growth outlook, most of which are trying to push the dollar weaker.

shery: let's talk about some specific markets when it comes to asia because we have seen this huge rally when it comes to those shares in hong kong already we had the rally in china over the past few months, where do you go now to find opportunity in this new environment where you are seeing a weakening dollar and some other opportunities given the stimulus spending in the u.s? >> i think this will be a year where they need to broaden investment horizons. this still offers plenty of opportunity for growth, but i think for this year it has -- it is worth looking into southeast asia which has been lagging and if we were going into a recovery mode, in the second round of this year especially in a service sector with tourism, business trouble, i think that southeast asia can catch up to

these stations which has been the stellar performer last year. i think this is about broadening the allocation beyond china, i think the second half of this year we very well could see hong kong starting to catch up. shery: so interesting you say that because you are the second guest today telling me it is not about north asia anymore, it is also about broadening to southeast asia. my question is where you would see those rallies because we have seen these tech giants really play a key role when it comes to these northeast asian economies, what is attractive in these nate destinations -- nations? >> i think>> you are correct, what happens last year with northeast asia having the tech having is performed really well. in southeast asia, the tech component may not be as

prominent but what you have is a couple of things, the financials will continue to improve with broad economic recovery, some discretionary switch -- discretionary's which have been hit by the pandemic will broadly improve. it is the traditional sector and also the factors affected by covid that could also provide some pleasant surprises to investors. shery: thank you as always for joining us with the latest. this as we get breaking news, the senate now confirming april haynes to be the director of national intelligence, she is the first confirmed member of bidens cabinet. she had received questions ranging from china to the politicization of intelligence at the cia, now we have her confirmation, the first in bidens cabinet to become the

director of national intelligence. as we saw this, -- confirmation we had the new white house secretary speaking at a press conference saying that the biden administration will bring back truth, transparency to the briefing room also confirming that anthony fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the u.s. will be participating in that who meeting tomorrow coming on the back of president biden signing that executive orders that included be engaging with the who. >> a check now of the first word headlines. >> italian lawmakers have a -- approved borrowing, the prime minister moved after winning a narrow vote of confidence in the senate and then the extra funds will help the ford business -- move forward business in the pandemic. we expect the economy to contract by more than 5% this quarter as the survey has seen rational growth.

thailand has opened a royal defamation suit against a high-profile critic after he questioned the involvement of its company links to the monarchy in the local vaccine production. the former candidate criticized official vaccine strategy on facebook saying the selection of the science has a local producer of the astrazeneca job indicated loyalty to the king. hong kong police have arrested seven current and former bank staff in the city for a look -- money laundering case. the five men and two women aged between 30-37 were arrested earlier this week and accused of helping an international syndicate move dirty money through several and yet unnamed banks. >> air jet is now under investigation amid a malfunction

concern that could have led to the true losing control. we are told the auto throttle was producing more thrust in one of the 737 500's two engines shortly before it dove into the sea. those are your first word headlines. haidi: still ahead beijing leaves the door open to the biden administration and takes a shot at the outgoing administration. we'll discuss what weight relations could shape plus jack ma has resurfaced briefly, we get an analysis on whether the alibaba founder is out of the woods with mainland authorities. so you're a small business, or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back?

you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business.

officials, gary locke is a former u.s. ambassador to china and it is great to have you with us, thank you for your time today. it is a new day, the joe biden administration is kicking off but it was really interesting that despite the fact that we were expecting these tit-for-tat actions given what we have seen so far with the sanctions on chinese officials, on u.s. officials that china released to this list of 28 people from the trump administration while president joe biden was speaking. is this a message for the upcoming administration? >> thank you for having me as part of your program and i do not think it means much at all, it was perhaps a little parting

shot at the trump administration, but will have no impact. it is not going to affect president biden's commitment to having candid, but more constructive dialogue and all the other world leaders, in terms of diplomacy with the eye states and all of its allies as well as countries around the world including china. >> what does this mean for china policy when it comes to the broader asia region? we are just yesterday and the confirmation hearing that he actually cited it with president trump on taking a tougher stance on china, we know that he was the architect of the cuba -- two asia which was replaced with the indo pacific strategy. what are we going to see? >> obviously civic groups have

had some deep concerns about china's economic policy and certainly agreed and i think the trump administration recognize that. their strategy was all wrong and resulted in a trade war which affected the american consumer and american businesses and enhanced business operations for many of our allies around the world who have similar concerns about china's trade and economic policies. the intent of the trumpet ministration was correct, their strategy was ineffective and has actually exacerbated chant -- tensions with china. you will see the biden administration equally concerned about the concerns they have had about china, their unfair trade policies, their subsidies, their

failure to abide by commitments or international standards such as the wto, but you are going to see the biden administration working with other countries that have similar concerns to have a more effective, unified approach in addressing these issues with china. shery: is there a sense that -- the national security and foreign policy team being assembled will perhaps take a more hawkish approach, a bit more moderate or -- nature with china because you take a look at the comments that was mentioned and lauren rosenberg and the incoming u.s. trade representative as well as kurt campbell at the national security council, all of them have either taken action or provided rhetoric so far to suggest there will be a lot of candor and forefront is when it comes to beijing. is that a balance you expect them to do at this point?

>> i think you can say all of these individuals have been known for their candor and being a very transparent along with then vice president biden, he has never shied away from speaking plainly and truthfully and open with the chinese leaders whether it is human rights, trade and economic policies, or freedom of press this is really not new but again, these concerns that american diplomats, american businesses and american people and workers have had about china have been brewing for quite some time, growing frustration and that is why even the trump administration came out with their policies, but again, there is no disagreement about the assessment of china with trade rules and international standards, the challenges his -- challenge is to develop a

strategy on how to deal with china. at the same time, president biden and his entire team also understand that there are many areas of agreement, commonality with china and so there may be frank discussions and candid dialogue on these areas of disagreement, you will also see the biden administration trying to work with china on areas of commonality whether it is finding a cure for cancer, addressing climate change, fighting terrorism. obviously trying to hold the proliferation of nuclear weapons by north korea. haidi: what do you think about the role of china and status as we have seen with the biden administration. we spoke with someone yesterday and he viewed that china had overplayed his hand, the the leader is not as strong as

perceived with particular reference to perhaps the economic recovery going forward as well as the missed opportunities they had during the trump administration to take on more of a global leadership role. >> i think many countries around the world are beginning to understand -- they have to understand the issues, there are a lot of investments and -- by china about -- a delta road initiative are coming into question and many countries are trying to say it is not such a good deal. the generosity of china comes with semi-strings attached and they are landmines with those recipient countries because they need to make sure the project are sustainable, economically viable and otherwise there could be severe consequences for the people and government of those recipient nations. i think there is a lot of

re-examination by many countries around the world in terms of their economic relationship with china. china clearly has a role to play in international affairs. they have been contributing to peacekeeping forces with the u.n., they have worked with the united states on humanitarian relief around the world as well as trying to stop the piracy off the coast of africa. we need china engaged in the world, but in terms are fair to other countries as well. haidi: the former u.s. ambassador to china, thank you for joining us. twitter has locked to the official account of the chinese embassy in the u.s. after -- beijing policies in the program. we have the latest from san francisco. their current twitter says this is a violation, which specific

rule does it say the embassy has room and -- broken? >> this rule went against twitter's policy against dehumanization and basically that means that you cannot target a group of people based on their religion, age, disability, national origin and obviously in this case, this was a tweet that targeted the weaker muslim ethnic minority in china and obviously twitter saw this as an attack against an ethic just ethnic group -- ethnic group. shery: whenshery: can the chinese embassy regain their tweeting privileges? >> as we learned with president trump a few weeks ago, when you break the rules on twitter, the company takes down that tweet but they actually make the user themselves go in and delete it from the account.

not until you delete that tweet do you get access to your account back, so in this case it appears the embassy and -- in the u.s. has not deleted the tweet and until they go in, remove that tweet at twitter's request, they will not have access to the account again. in theory, they can go in right now and should have the account shortly after that but it sounds like they are not willing to go and make a change -- and that change. haidi: twitter has really stepped forward in enforcing these rules, are they policing content? >> there has been that debate for a long time, but will we have seen -- what we have seen with the capital rights and this issue with china is that these are tweets and this is language that seems to have a real impact on the world in terms of a real world harm.

we hear facebook and twitter talk about that all the time and say once you commit real world harm, that is when your tweets get taken down. shery: kurt wagner there, we will have plenty more to come on "daybreak: asia." this is bloomberg. so you're a small business, or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business.

haidi: we are taking a look at breaking news out of australia. the labor market indicators showing we had a part time implement change of 14.3 -- 14.3 thousand jobs. we see the employment change of 50,000 jobs. unemployment rate, ticking down. 6.6%. expectations of 6.7%, has come down from 6.8% in november. we are also taking a look at the change when it comes to the participation rates, staying the same. 66.2%.

in line with expectations and a little higher compared to the previous months. taking a look at where the aussie dollar is trading. we have come up the hot --, off the highs of the session that we saw the aussie dollar trading at six days highs against the greenback, amid the rising stock futures and rising commodity prices as well. let's take a look at the rest of the markets in terms of this risk on session. sophie is in hong kong. sophie: the aussie trading higher as we see the dollar holding a three-day decline. stocks are gaining ground with japan leading the rise. nikkei adding .9%. this despite them under pressure this thursday. korean ship names are gaining ground while banks are falling. the kospi adding .8% this morning. internet player neighbor is the biggest boost to the benchmark. this as the private bank points out in its latest outlook that digital consumer facing sectors

in asia are an act attractive place. global stocks are extending gains at a record high. this with benchmarks rising for a third straight session, amid optimism for recovering earnings. we are seeing more lines when it comes to vexing rollouts. on that, let's check in on one stock mover of note. that would be panasonic in tokyo gaining nearly 4% this morning. this on reports in japan that it has developed a container that can be used to transport and store pfizer's vaccines at a subzero temperature. sales of this container are planned reportedly for springtime. shery: here in the u.s., president biden straight to work on his plan to tackle covid-19, signing a number of executive orders on his first day in office. we spoke to guests about his health care priorities. >> the number one thing that they should be doing is getting more vaccine into the commercial

channel, and forgetting about all of the central planning. >> we do see vaccines being an important dynamic to get us out of the hole we are in. >> all routes to prosperity for our country float through carrying the virus. >> with a very clear federal partnership using their logistic ability, their manufacturing ability to make sure we don't run out of aisles and syringe is, their communication strategy to echo and re-echo public health message, all of that has been missing. shery: the united states is the worst hit nation in the world with the new president critical of the previous administration's handling of the health crisis. bloomberg asked johns hopkins university assistant professor of emergency medicine lauren sauer what is likely to be different now. >> i think we will see a much stronger coordinated federal effort to roll out these

critical public health efforts that have fallen through our state and local -- fallen to our state and local health officials. that will be a huge change. when president-elect biden rolled out his plan the other evening in his speech, everyone was excited. we are excited to see that coordinated response, from testing to vexing increases, and strategies for supplements as well. all of it will go towards an umbrella response that we have not seen from the trump administration. >> how much more quickly can vaccines get rolled out? does it need to be at a more local level? is it pharmacies or is it troops? lauren: i think there is a lot of looking into what is causing the delays, which is really important. there is two sides. there is the distribution side and getting the vaccine into people's arms and there is making sure that people are

willing and ready to receive it. there is a lot of work that has to be done within the community on trusting the vaccine, on being willing to get it. we also need to think about how to we -- how do we safely and effectively give vexing? we will not immediately have immunity when you get the vaccine. you need to have a state -- a safe space where you can have a large number of people going through a distribution center. i think there is a big push to do this. that first 100 days are where he is looking to scale up the vaccine response. that will be huge. that may mean bringing troops into to support the administration. it may mean bringing health care workers into large administration centers, like we are seeing being built across the country. all of it means a concerted effort from the federal government, which will be usually important to support our state and local responses. >> who is best placed to convince people that the vaccine is safe? lauren: i think what i would like to see is a return to these

trusted public health entities. in particular, the cdc, seeing more of dr. fauci again, seeing more of those nih scientists who did so much work to get these vaccines ready to go and placed in a short timeline. scientists, i think we all want to hear more from. but also public leaders. whether that is faith-based, community-based, people who are important to local communities, who understand the concerns, understand the underlying challenges of rebuilding that trust that may not be there right now. i think we are going to need to see a coordinated effort from all parts of society to say, these that scenes are safe, effective and important onto the road to recovery. francine: here in the u.k., the government has basically decided it is better more people get the first vaccine even if there is a delay in getting the second shot. do we have proof that that is ok? lauren: i would not say we have

proof. i think there is a lot of people working on the science behind that delay or the science behind escaping the second shot while we roll out the first shot two more people. the trials that were done were very specific in a very focused regiment for shot at a certain time, the second shot, and then tracking the immune shot. that being said, we can infer information based on the results of people who are starting to get that first shot of that vexing. i think one of the pieces we need to work on is ramping up the capacity to give that first shot, and then making sure we have the production to ensure that second shots are available for all those people. i think right now, the priority should be to stick to the regimen. but also think about the logistics of giving more people that first shot. and then planning for the second shot when the time comes.

haidi: that was the johns hopkins university assistant professor of emergency measure -- medicine lauren sauer. it is supported by michael r. bloomberg, a founder of bloomberg lp and bloomberg philanthropy. the coronavirus continues to play into policy decisions. two big central banks meet today, the bank of japan and the bank of indonesia. our editor kathleen hays is here with a preview. we have had trade numbers out of japan. does this play into what we expect today? kathleen: there is a lot more going on than the trade numbers. the boj, that is the number you would like to see. meanwhile, what we have got is bigger in the background. that is the fact that various cases have picked up again. . the state of emergency has been extended. that is what is expected to slow the recovery that the boj has seen start. now they will be worried about what is happening. that is the thing we are watching most closely, what they

tell us about the outlook. prime minister suga has extended emergency areas to regions of 60% of japan's economy. that will be an issue. they are expected to cut -- downgrade their economic outlook for the next three years. and cut their first quarter growth forecast. right now, the fiscal year gdp projection for 2020 is -5.5, going up to 3.6 in 2021. more negative, not as good. let's take a look now at these trade figures. japan's exports have moved into positive territory for the first time since early 2018. obviously, we can look perhaps to china, and the fact that its economy has recovered because you can see that the japan experts, i love this chart. look at those red lines. suddenly you get 2%. they were down 4.2% the month before. now up 2% year-over-year. not as strong as forecasted. but this has to be a signal that

as you recover from the virus, your economy can recover too. right now, mainly coming from increased demand from china. nevertheless, it is a ray of hope. it will be interesting to see at the press conference, the governor will be asked about this, what he has to say and what it means for their outlook. because they extended their emergency lending program for the covid-19 lending at the december meeting, they are not expected to change that. they are expected to sit back and wait. bloomberg economics says they will not do anything, at least until march when they finish their framework review. for now, we will see how much they reduce their outlook, with the governor says about the latest things happening to the economy, and what that signals for down the road. shery: thank indonesia meeting today. what are we expecting? kathleen: i think more of the same. they are not expected to move even though the virus is hurting their economy. they have a couple of other factors. one the boj doesn't have, and

that is price pressures are starting to pick up. the rupee has been weakening. down 1%. since lockdowns had to increase at the end of the year last year. people are worried about what their growth will look like. they are expected to keep their e rate at 3.75%. the virus of course is spreading in indonesia as the economy suffers its first recession since the asian financial crisis. get control of the virus, be able to reduce the lockdowns, and you will be in a better position. another issue, the economy has weekend, you would like to think of adding stimulus, and look at what inflation is doing. it is below target. recently, that number has jumped to 1.68% year-over-year on the inflation numbers for indonesia. that is something that the central bank has to watch when they think about possibly making any kind of policy move. with that, they will probably -- they don't want to weaken there

rupee yeah, they want to see what happens to inflation and growth. that is what we expect to hear from them as well. shery: global economics and policy editor kathleen hays. don't miss, a big interview later in the -- he joins exclusively. we will discuss whether feel demand will return. coming up next, jack ma's reappearance triggers a $63 billion sigh of relief and alibaba shares. questions remain over the scale of the beijing's client on china's tech giants. we will get the latest. this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: this is "daybreak: asia." paycheck of the first word headlines now. joe biden is re-engaging with the world health organization and will send expert anthony fauci to the group this week, as cases surge in the world. deaths reached a new high in germany in the u.k.. most new cases since the pandemic begin. amazon is offering to help the biden administration accelerate the rollout of vaccines. india says it can wrap up production of its domestic covid-19 vaccine to have a billion doses a month, amid rising interest from europe, the middle east and africa. the astrazeneca shot is being

rolled out by the institute of india, and has drawn interest from the u.k., belgium, and other countries seeking access to cheaper vaccines. india is also working on its own coronavirus shop. -- shot. the chinese premier is calling for more support for the economy saying, huge challenges and uncertainties remain, addressing the state council, he said policymakers must maintain backing to ensure a continuous stable and sustainable development. he added that china aims to keep growth within a reasonable range. in the latest five-year economic plan. china has wrapped up the trump arrow with sanctions on the outgoing administration, even as his successor was being sworn in. beijing called recent u.s. policy crazy moves that had harmed relations. the sanctions list includes former secretary of state mike pompeo, national robert o'brien,

and white house aide peter navarro. they are banned from entry or doing business with china, hong kong and macau. those are your first word headlines. haidi: global investors breathe a sigh of relief at the video sighting of jack ma. his first public appearance in about a month since the government's antitrust clap down. stephen engle is following the developments and has the latest out of hong kong. it was a pretty outsized reaction for less then one minute of this appearance. stephen: yeah, that's right. jack ma, let's put this out there, he might not be out of the doghouse just yet. but that minute of video that was circulated, including by state media, i might add, which was supposedly having a muzzle order on covering the whole alibaba antitrust saga, they spread it as well. he did this online conference with rural schools. what he said in that was not

necessarily material for market moving news. he talked about philanthropic efforts, he talked about bridging the gap between the rich and the poor, and also building out the countryside. these are areas the communist party definitely like to trumpet as their pillars of their policy. but it was a stark contrast to his last public comments that we got just before, days before this covering of this billion -- $37 billion ipo of ant financial where he compared it state owned banks to being pawnshops, and saying regulators were not keeping up with the times in fintech and the like. it was a much more humble, even though it was only about a minute, and he didn't talk about the client down, -- clamp down, it did provide a boost to alibaba shares nunnally in new york but here in hong kong. the stock rose as much as 11% after coming out of the

lunchtime break, creating 63 billion dollars in market value in the u.s. and in hong kong. it pulled back a little bit, $58 billion only. a boost to the stock yesterday. we will get another reaction today, as investors get another chance to react later today in 45 minutes when 9988 hk reopened for trade. shery: as you said in the beginning, jack ma is not in the clear as of yet. what do we know when it comes to beijing's climbdown and the new rules they have to abide by? stephen: i think this is going to be a long process. china is in the middle of revamping their anti-monopoly laws which they finalized back in 2008. lots has changed in the chinese economy, with the emergence of these huge tech titans like alibaba, like tencent, and some in the tech world, this has created a duopoly. they have all of these

all-encompassing end to end platforms and then the payment platforms to facilitate that. and antitrust regulators are saying that is squeezing out competition. and that is what they are going to be cracking down on. an already are starting because the pboc, the central bank in china has released draft rules within hours of this video going out of jack ma yesterday. the new rule stipulate that any non-bank payment company with 50% of the market in online transactions or two entities with a combined two thirds share could be subject to antitrust investigations. then they could be broken up, or they could also be subject to one year grace period to fix their problem. if you bring up the pie chart, you can see that duopoly in effect, definitely with alipay and wechat pay having absolutely the lion's share of the online payment platform. alipay used to do have 80%, now

down to 55%. wechat pay, 38.8%. others like union pay, we pay from xiaomi and others make up a small fraction. there will be changes coming because of the antitrust regulations coming down the pike from china. shery: we will be watching. stephen engle, are chief moore's aphasia correspondent. coming up next, hong kong stocks are off to their best annual start in decades with the key 30,000 level, a few points away. the outlook next. this is bloomberg. ♪erg. ♪

haidi: a quick check of the latest business flash headlines. . united airlines slid in late trainings after he came in at seven dollars, worse than the predicted $6.65. it was probably in line with estimation of $3.4 billion of revenue beating forecasts at $560 million. operating revenue down 60% to 70% in the first -- in the current quarter. morgan traders stanley's cashed in to round off the bank's best year on record. fourth-quarter revenues cementing the standing as a top stock. morgan stanley and its peers has secured their lead over smaller rivals. the ceo has provided over a record earnings and the stock surge that takes the market cap

to $135 billion. citigroup is planning to cut bonuses for top executives after being reprimanded by regulators last year. the plan may depend on individuals. the city board is weighing final compensation decisions for the 15 strong executive management team which includes the ceo. shery: hong kong's hank saieh index is off to the best start of the year since 1985 and is within touching distance from the key 30,000 level, as mainland traders flood the market with cash. our china markets editor is tracking this. how much more can we see these gains in the hong kong h-shares, especially when it seems like they gains are coming from losses in the mainland markets as well? sophia: zach lee. good morning. there is a significant rotation we have seen this month.

it picked up especially when the u.s. ban on equity investments like a china mobile and see not quivered -- triggered losses and mainland traders swarmed to buy to pick this up. they were really cheap. we had a good report from morgan stanley strategists showing the turnover year to date for china mobile is at 94% of total turnover. which shows just how influential mainland buying has been in hong kong stark market. it is nearing $30 billion. just in january alone. if you can compared to last year, almost one third of what was purchased in all of last year which was already a record. haidi: what is being said about the hong kong rally in mainland china? sofia: brokerages were quite positive on the market at the beginning of the month.

now it is turning into caution. we had a report on the securities journal as well warning people should not start piling into all of the same shares. there is concentration risk as well. it is a warning that stock product evaluations could become disconnected from reality leading to a correction. we are not seeing the warning from official communist party folks, like the people's daily for example. that could really concern -- that could really derail the equity market. there is still room to run for the stock rally in hong kong. haidi: our china market editor sofia horta e costa. click we are setting up for a positive session with the extension of the rally in asia. the head of the china and hong kong open, what are you watching? sophie: keeping an eye on china

as they requested a review of the delisting decision. reports of an explosion of a chemical factory in which it has invested. alibaba health on watch after getting a buy. efforts to build out its digital infrastructure. watching the latest electric car maker to tap capital markets to keep up with a ev market. the warren buffett backed company has raised $3.8 billion with share placements. this after shares surged over 100% in the last 12 months. this is byd's first stock sale since 2014. this as we see a pickup across the board. we have ev stocks climbing in japan and south korea and as clean energy stocks gained ground in asia. this amid bets on biden's policy push. shery: coming up, more big guests on bloomberg markets. we have exclusive conversations with the bnp paribas china ceo and indian minister of petroleum national gas and steel, dharmendra pradhan.

plus, more on the outlook for u.s.-china ties in the biden era with china chairman greg gilligan in the next hour. the china open is next. this is bloomberg. this is bloomberg.

tom: it is 9:00 a.m. in beijing and shanghai. welcome to "bloomberg markets: china open." i'm tom mackenzie. david: i'm david ingles. we are counting down to the open of trade in the chinese mainland and hong kong. . let's get to your top stories. joe biden signs executive actions on day one. his daunting to do list includes the coronavirus, a weakening u.s. economy, and worsening ties with beijing. tom: