haidi: a very good morning. we are coming down to the start of trading in sydney. shery: welcome to daybreak: asia. asian stocks set for a volatile session after a tech selloff in the u.s. janet yellen's inflation remarks rattle markets. the secretary clarifies she is not predicting or recommending a

rate hike. an exclusive interview shortly with a and z ceo to break down the bank's earnings. commodities touch their highest level in almost a decade as a rebound stokes demand across the sector. haidi: let's take a look at the set up for markets across asia. sophie is in hong kong. sophie: japan, south korea and china offline midweek. it will likely be a muted sector. volatile moves fueled by janet yellen's comments. the greenback is holding on to gains near a two week high. check out the kiwi dollar. rising .4% on the back of first quarter jobs data. a beach from new zealand. we have a bunch of the asian pmi readings do. -- readings due.

in australia i, futures pointing to losses. more upside is -- we are seeing wti extend gains above 66 bucks a barrel. this as we saw the bloomberg gauge of commodities index jump to a high. also keeping an eye on anz. we'll be hearing from the ceo later. we have data points out from australia. the market australia pmi reading expanding for an eight straight month compared to the 55 reading we saw in march. haidi: sophie in hong kong. australia's economic recovery continues to build. cash earnings rose to 30 billion aussie dollars in the first half compared to 1.4 billion in the

same period a year earlier. anz will pay an interim dividend of 70 aussie cents per share. but get more on these results. we are joined exclusively by the ceo. great to have you on bloomberg tv. it is a pretty optimistic set of results. we heard from the rba yesterday, the optimism continues as well. where do you see this going forward particularly when it comes to your loans business? do you see demand continue to rise? >> good morning. we are optimistic about the future. i think it is a credit to the strength in the banking system in australia and the hard work we have done to strengthen the bank and be ready for whatever comes our way. the great response our governments have made in terms of the health response. things look much more optimistic than they have been in a long

time. i don't think any of us would have imagined we would be sitting here in early may 2021 with this optimism. however, the pandemic is not over. there is still a long way to go. haidi: that leads me into my next. continue. >> we are going to see an increase i think in strength in the economy in australia and new zealand. housing is starting to flatten out a little bit. it has had a very strong run. it has a lot of liquidity in the market. people have been saving heavily. we have seen record levels of deposit activity. people are looking to deploy that and a first-time buyer activity. demand is a reasonably quick to respond to market signals and supply takes a little bit of time. there is a classic supply shortage. we think that will be resolved

over the next 18 months. for the next 12 to 18 months, it is going to continue to be a solid market and continue to grow. haidi: you alluded to the uncertainty related to the fact we are still in a global pandemic. what does it mean for the impairment provision relief? is that something you see sustained into the remainder of the year? >> what we do is we run a model. we know there are three big drivers of our credit provisions. one is gdp growth. the other is unemployment. the third is house prices. all of those indicators are strong. the relief we gave, march 31. we have the budget next week. since then, things have started to look more optimistic. march 31, we were only coming

out of the australian support package. a lot of the support was coming out. we did not know what was going to happen. as it has turned out, things have strengthened even further. gdp looks really strong. hard to see that deteriorating from this perspective. unemployment is looking really good. if things stay where they are, you could see banks release further provisions. there is still a lot of uncertainty around some of those sectors. shery: do you foresee any risk policymakers could be releasing stimulus to early echo there is ought -- too early? >> there was a lot of concerned about job keeper being removed. you have seen unemployment putting much back to where it was pretty covid.

with the shut borders and down the us trillion economy, it has soaked up a lot of the unemployment. i think that was deftly managed by government. the real test will be the budget next week, which will determine the economy for the next 12 to 18 months. shery: let me get into your operations. given the optimism you exude about the economy, perhaps this could be a chance for you to get into citigroup's australian retail operations. we are hearing from sources you are interested. >> we have a strong position. we have lots of liquidity. we care about where our targets are. i am not going to comment on speculation around m&a activity. anz is in a strong position and we're looking for growth opportunity. we like our business.

we like where we are targeted around. we do have the capital to grow whether that is in organic or inorganic. if opportunities come along, we certainly have the capacity managerially, which is really important. we have the financials to take those things seriously. we will take opportunity when it comes. shery: whether it is you or any of the is a big four, do you see any regulatory issues? >> from what i have read, it is a small player. we have competitive regulators. they will take a look at that and understand the implications for the market. it is early days. whatever happens to that business, there will likely be a regulatory process to investigate the competition. haidi: in the absence of regulatory impediments, do you

think we should expect a bid from anz echo >> again, i am not going to comment here die don't get is appropriate. --, it. i don't think it is appropriate. haidi: let me move on to some of the macro perspective. we saw the end of the job keeper subsidy program. did you pick up on any signs of distress from that program ending? >> that is a really good program -- really good question. at this stage, not yet. it is still relatively early days. let's not forget. where we would think the streets would be -- a lot of small businesses were only able to operate because of the job keeper support. as that finished, what is happening now is of those small businesses, a very small number. only about 4% are still in bit of difficulty. i would imagine a lot of the job

removal is quite immaterial. the question is how long can they survive? can they just hold on to get into the wave of the economic recovery or is it going to be a bit too late? we have not seen it yet. i would not expect to see it for a couple of months. normally businesses can make do for a time. once you get to the 90 day period, it will be more like june when we start to see the data of how many small businesses have suffered. on the homeowners side, the reality is many people who were job keepers, as a generalization, many were not people who had home lives. as a general observation. they were typically people and a sectors or working in tourism. the middle australian homeowner. it will have an impact on the homeowner. it may have an impact on a small

business. that will be june. haidi: when it comes to the rba, they are set to decide in july when they will rollover the yield target. they will also be making a decision when it comes to a third round. what are your expectations as to what they could do given the economic recovery conditions we are looking at at the moment? >> it is a good question and i do not know. other than to say from where i sit, one of the major -- in australia. the economy is in really good shape. that is not to dismiss people are in a good situation. when you look across on average, the economy is firing well on so many cylinders. if we talk to customers today, what is the topic of conversation? labor shortages. people cannot get stuff -- get staff cared particularly in

areas like hospitality. when a hotel. -- running a hotel. the second is supply chain. it is hard to get certain commodities. just physically. the economy feels like it is really running extremely well. from where i sit, it is not clear to me it needs more stimulus. from where i sit, i want to see the impact of the current stimulus because i think things look quite robust. haidi: where is anz at when it comes to return to offers? across the breadth of the big banks globally, we see everything from it is time to get back into the office full-time to super flexible reducing our office footprint for a lot of banks. where does anz sit and where do you see the return? how do you see that playing out.

>> we are somewhere in the middle. we did a good job of keeping -- we had a percent of our staff working flexibly. partly at home and partly in the office. we operate in two countries. to understand what is the work we need to do and what is the best place to do this? as a general observation, the work we do is creative. it requires teaming and collaboration and we have seen the data and evidence that it is better in most parts when you are co-located. we have encouraging people to come back to the office. we are fortunate to live in australia and new zealand where we don't really have any restrictions. if you were to fly here, you would not notice any restrictions other than international travel. two have the capacity, we

monitor every day. yesterday was a record number. we have about 14,000 people in our offices, not branches. today, we had about 6000 here. which is a really strong number. it is going up every day. we are encouraging people back. based on collaboration and creativity. generally, people are glad to be back and they see the benefits of being with their colleagues. shery: for how long will you be able to remain this optimistic about the australian economy if the vaccine rollout continues at the snail pace it is doing right now? >> we have every reason to be optimistic. the government has by and large managed this really well. we are so fortunate. there are going to be hiccups along the way. the reality is there is no covid

transmission in the community. we had some issues around people coming into quarantine and thanks. vaccines may be a bit slower than people planned, but there is a vaccine program. there is sufficient supply for everyone in this country and in new zealand to be vaccinated by the end of the year. i think there are a lot of reasons to be extremely optimistic. shery: you said everybody inside australia and new zealand. how badly will the economy be hit if you continue not to have those tours gains, investment gains and flows you have seen in the past? >> we are a liberal open economy and it has been great to have the people movement. international students and tourism. let's also look at the innovation and change and adaptability of the economy. the tourism sector has adapted quickly to domestic tours impaired -- domestic tories in.

we can travel between our countries. we have seen a surge. people are adapting. not all of them are going to be capable. i think it has been remarkable flexibility. international students. bookings at the university level for the coming years is really strong. there are solutions around logistics. if i am a student coming to australia, quarantine is not a scary prospect their solutions to some of those. -- scary prospect. there are solutions to some of those. the government has targeted the weak spots. i think there is going to be an adaptation that happens. for the longer term, of course we want borders back open. we want people to be able to move around.

the underlying streets of the economy and the way this place is adapting, we have capacity for that. it has been extremely heartening to see. haidi: some of the major pillars of the australian economy look a little tenuous to me. the economy boom, the demand out of china. this is a government that does not have a diplomatic relationship with their biggest trading partners. there always concerns that could worsen. the housing market which is such a big driver for your business, we are hearing about potential policies that will dampen that. what are the downside risk you are paying attention to given we have heard a lot of optimism from you? >> sure. i am not normally optimistic by nature. if you ran the tapes of interviews over the years.

all of these things you point to are reasonable and there are things we talk about. we just had our risk committee yesterday with our board. we talk about the geopolitics. we talk about the changing and trade flow. we talk about the potential. the facts are quite remarkable. house prices are high. but not actually that much higher than they were a year ago. melbourne has only retraced -- back to where it was a year ago. sydney is only back to where it was three years ago. if predictions are ripe and it continues to go, we may be in uncharted territory. affordability is pretty modest. if you think about how much of your monthly income you need to save in your house, it has not moved.

interest rates are low. there are a lot of reasons and fundamentals that support it. it does not mean we are complacent. let's talk about china. we have a big business in china. we have been there a long time. we facilitate a lot of the trade and capital flow between china, australia and new zealand. when i look at our business and i just think about our business and data, our business remains strong. there is still significant trade happening between our countries. there are some sanctions doing a harder line. look at iron ore. there is still a significant flow. our business is operating quite well through that period. what is happening is more and more of our customers are thinking about longer-term plans. it is not about politics. it is about good old-fashioned

common sense. i envision a good position to facilitate that. we are right across asia. if our customers want to the combat moving from taiwan to india or whatever it is, we are there to facilitate that. that shift of thinking, people thinking through, it actually is a good thing for a business because that is what we do. we help people think through those things and prepare for the longer term. haidi: really appreciate your time this morning. shayne alliott joining us exclusively from melbourne. we are getting breaking lines through from the reserve bank of new zealand. they are holding the media conference. just hearing from the deputy rbnz governor giving a little bit of color to these concerns about a housing correction. it is not a red alert yet on the housing correction's rest.

the long term drivers are starting to soften. saying there is a greater risk of house price correction in new zealand. we heard earlier from the rbnz that it is prepared to further tighten mortgage lending restrictions if needed terrain in the country's housing market wish. we will leave that there. we will continue watching. it is at live go on your terminal. shery: still ahead, we speak to a founder and ceo about her outlook for the crude sector. up next, janet yellen's comments on interest rates moved the market but the treasury secretary says she was not predicting or recommending any rate hikes.

this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: the big question for investors today was, did janet yellen open the door to fed rate hikes or didn't she? kathleen hays is here with what janet yellen said in two separate interviews. explain to us what happened. kathleen: she is no longer fed chair. she cannot open the door in terms of setting this is what we are going to do. she can say what she thinks might happen. when she spoke at an event sponsored by the atlantic magazine, she was asked about the impact of the fiscal stimulus, how it might affect the fed and interest rates. let's listen to what she said. >> it may be that interest rates

will have to rise somewhat to make sure that our economy does not overheat even though the official spending is small relative to the size of the economy, so it could cause some modest increases in interest rates to get that reallocation. kathleen: a lot of people think that is perfectly reasonable. why wouldn't the fiscal stimulus because the fed to say we don't need to be so stimulative with our monetary policy? she said this plan is going to keep benefiting the economy even if there are not a lot of stray hikes. a lot of things have happened after that. she has been saying inflation is not going to be a problem. the markets reacted. we saw gold take a dip. this put a little steam into the selloff of stocks. at any event in the afternoon sponsored by the wall street journal, she was given the chance to weigh in again on

these remarks that got people thinking janet yellen thinks the fed might be raising interest rates. here is what she said. >> let me be clear. it is not something i am predicting or recommending. if anybody appreciates the independence of the fed, i think that person is me. i know that the fed can be counted on to do whatever is necessary to achieve their objectives. kathleen: speaking of federal reserve independence, this made it to the white house press briefing. the white house press secretary saying janet yellen understand central-bank independence. joe biden agrees with janet yellen. yes, the central bank should be independent. let's add one more thing. usually fed chairs once they leave the seat, they do not talk about current fed policy. i guess janet yellen feels like she can broadly talk about the

economy and certainly the impact of stimulus. this is something that has chapter up today. i think she is going to go back to her original statement, inflation is not going to be a problem. if it is, the fed has the tools. haidi: we just heard from the rbnz deputy and governor speaking. more details about the financial stability report. what are these concerns over the housing market and what policy measures could we be expecting? kathleen: the rbnz was told by the government they have to start considering home prices in their monetary policy decisions. what they have signaled in this financial stability report is they're prepared to tighten lending further. this is tight lending further terrain in the certain kinds of lending. they want to put restrictions on interest only lending. no big surprises. certainly significant in terms

of what is going to happen next. the deputy governor speaking in place of adrian nor today. haidi: kathleen hays with the details. this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: south korean companies have been accelerating their transition to greener and more sustainable business. sk group has long been recognized as a pioneer. a representative spoke exclusively with bloomberg. >> from 2017 until 2019, we have come up with $65 million in funding for the purposes of impact investing and have

invested in 24 startups. out of the fund, 60% has been deployed and invested in companies with potential and social enterprise and venture any the likes of the environment space. >> you have an estimate of when you might use of the remaining 40% of the fund and as a follow-up, do you plan on raising more money along these lines? >> we plan to invest the remaining 40% within this year. we are co-investing with various banks. so we will coordinate together to make the investment decision. we also plan to make -- to launch the fourth fund by the end of the second quarter this year. >> i want to talk about the specific objectives of sk group when it comes to esg. i'm sure you will tell me you are very serious when it comes to these efforts. if you could help quantify for

us, how serious is esg for you guys and why is it not simply a pr campaign? >> the term esg has been more widely used and immersed within the sk group in the past three years. until now, the three components have been considered separately. in the capital markets these days, there are various methodologies to assess esg and the impact has grown immensely. we have been carefully considering ways to look at esg from a more holistic approach. >> i understand last year, sk and six subsidiaries have committed to by 2050, achieving 100% of the group's consumption for renewable energy. my question is, at the starting point, how much of your energy consumption comes from renewables? >> it is a shame to say less

than 1% of sk group's energy consumption derives from renewable energy currently. however, we will achieve the goals by investing in solar and wind power. indirect investments as well in buying renewable energy credit from existing producers. >> are there specific milestones and objectives between now and 2050 you would like to achieve in terms of the energy mix to make sure you're on track to meet 100%? >> joining the are you 100 means we will have detailed plans to submit our goal. our best case would be to get the group's energy consumption to reach 60% renewable energy by 2030. >> a big part of the conversation on corporate governance is around diversity and inclusion. the issue and the challenges

vary from place to place. some might have to do with culture and corporate culture. can you talk to us about the specific challenges people have to understand about corporate korea when it comes to increasing female representation on management and boards? >> i understand the female boardmember ratio for s&p 500 companies stands at 25%. the ratio for south korea's 200 biggest companies stands that nearly 4.5%. sk group is at 9.2%. we do recognize there needs to be significant improvement. in korean culture, it was not easy for women to put dissipate in the workforce -- women to participate in the workforce. society is demanding faster changes in terms of gender and age. we expect to see faster structural changes as a result

we have not set an official target yet. there have been talks to at least match the female boardmember ratio of s&p 500 companies. i would think that would be common sense within the sk group. shery: the president of the council of social value committee. let's take a look at the markets. we continue to hear warnings about the red-hot property market from the rbnz today. sophie: this is the rbnz's financial stability report. some uncertainty for the new zealand economy. kiwi stocks lower by six times the 1%. the kiwi dollar pairing from an earlier jump sparked by the surprise beat in the first quarter jobs data. this as unemployment came down. the labor market still has some way to go. ozzie futures are pointing lower. the outlook for aussie stocks

looking more optimistic. jp morgan raising its target to 7500. gains of 7%. more than double what we have seen for the msci aipac index. australian stock correlations with commodities a big factor with the raw material companies the second-biggest rating on the australian gauge. switching out the chart, the commodities rally has been broad. the cyclical recovery boosts demand for everything from energy to metals and agricultural goods. with this momentum, that has pushed the commodity price gauge 211 year highs. we are in overheated territory at the highest level in 13 years. shery: for more on the outlook on commodities, we are joined by the founder and ceo of vanda

insights. . why are we seeing oil continue to mark new highs yet -- oil -- new highs? >> good morning. you use the term demand destruction. i don't think the market is looking at it that way. without a doubt, a huge humanitarian crisis in india. it does not look like the worst is over yet. what is happening is the central government has at this time completely steered away from a straight nationwide lockdown like the one we saw last year. and lifted to the state governments. what you are seeing across the country is a patchwork of partial lockdowns, curfews, but no nationwide lockdown. it has become very hard for the oil market to gauge how much demand is down. it is a fast evolving picture.

what we need for india is something like what we get from the u.s. on a weekly basis. that does not happen. we get monthly data. a month -- a one month lag. in the end, though it will market is ending up discounting it a little bit. shery: how much is the u.s. weekly data playing into what is happening with prices? >> very big time. the market is very euphoric right now. with regard to the u.s. economic acceleration or demand acceleration and on a weekly basis, it is getting a reader ration of that narrative. we have seen u.s. oil demand pickup. now it is going into the summer peak driving demand season. u.s. stocks have been declining very consistently and sharply.

when we look at crude stocks, they are all sitting close to the bottom of the file you fear range. -- five year range. you have here the single biggest consumer of oil. supporting that narrative is the view that the european union is also finally turning a corner. getting the pandemic in retreat. vaccinations are picking up pace. the countries are getting big plans. it is like the western hemisphere. the story is one of huge summer demand. that is the optimism and the euphoria you are seeing reflected in the price is right now. haidi: how deep is the enterprising when it comes to the market being blase about the situation? we already have the latest data from opec.

>> india consumes about 4.8 million barrels per day. i am looking back to the figure for march you've opted to -- march, which is before the crisis erupted. i would imagine indian demand would be down by at least 20% on average through may. we are looking at close to a million barrels a day of demand loss. the market appears to be disregarding it. one of the factors could be the market has seen a much more -- more demand being added by the u.s. and europe over the summer than what is being removed by

the loss of indian demand. at this point, the market is probably underpricing the risk of the variants, the newtons of the virus. there is at least 10 the world health organization is keeping a close eye on. these are not restricted to india or brazil or even japan or canada. they are all over the world. the u.s. seems to have turned the corner. europe seems to be turning the corner. it would be a grave risk to underestimate the capacity of the virus to pop up again in those countries. haidi: does the post pandemic infrastructure structurally change supply in the oil market?

>> the short answer is no. what it is doing right now is it is feeding into this -- the bigger narrative that the u.s. economy is doing well. we have seen states progressively moving or remaining -- removing all remaining restrictions. we have seen unemployment rates have been falling quite consistently. we see the retail space doing very well. there is a lot of pent-up demand coming back. people are traveling. that is a big story for the oil market. domestic travel, road travel, air travel in the u.s. is huge. people have the stimulus checks. the stock market has been doing well. the stimulus packages are feeding into the feel-good

factor of that narrative, which gives a boost oil market sentiment. it is impossible for anyone to connect the dots between infrastructure plan and how much it translates in terms of incremental oil demand in the u.s. it is all about driving and flying and how it is boosting the demand. haidi: always great to have you with us. the founder and ceo of vanda insights. still ahead, the outlook for gold and precious metals. coming up next, we'll be hearing from the new jersey governor about their plan to convince more people to get vaccinated including offering free beer. this is bloomberg. ♪

vonnie: this is daybreak: asia. i'm vonnie quinn with the first word headlines. treasury secretary janet yellen clarified she was not recommending interest rate increases when discussing the impact of fiscal spending. she also said she does not anticipate persistent higher inflation. she set off a few hiccups in financial markets after saying in an interview the biden administration spending may trigger a rise in interest rates. >> it may be that interest rates

will have to rise somewhat to make sure that our economy does not overheat even though the additional spending is relatively small relative to the size of the economy, so it could cause some very modest increases in interest rates to get that reallocation. vonnie: president joe biden says he hopes and expects to meet with the russian president vladimir putin during his visit to europe next month. the president is working on scheduling a meeting. biden proposed a meeting in a third country. biden is set to travel in june to the u.k. and belgium. the u.k. prime minister boris johnson says a new era has begun in u.k. relations. both nations say the haim to

double trade by 2030. -- say they plan to double trade by 2030. a trade feud between australia and china has opened a door for arrival farm producers in argentina. argentine growers are expected to expand. tariffs on australian exports of the grain. it is one of the few trade restrictions imposed on australia i beijing. -- by beijing. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. shery: 56% of american adults have received at least one dose of a covid vaccine. the nation's seeing a drop off in the rate of inoculations partly to -- partly due to vaccine hesitancy. bloomberg spoke with new jersey

governor phil murphy about the way they are urging citizens to get vaccinated and how they are using beer. >> we knew it would come to this moment and we are here. that balance has started to slip the other direction. we need a whole series of steps. the shot and a beer is one of 12 initiatives we have launched to get to every corner of the state knocking on doors, mobile vans. church services on sunday to go get vaccinated because we think we need to be in a proactive mindset to meet our objective. >> you have identified 16 municipalities that you are below 40% on. it looks to me that they tend to be in lower income and yes minorities.

what are the specific ways you reach those populations? >> you're absolutely right. i don't know every one of the communities are majority communities of color but they are largely. we did not put that list up to name and shame. this is to give people a sense of what the remaining challenge is. we have too many people declaring victory. our numbers have gotten better but we are not there yet. it is role models getting vaccinated. it is mobile vans. it is houses of worship. it is getting to homebound individuals, homeless folks. it is a whole range of initiatives. federally qualified health centers. it is a mix. there is no magic wand. as it relates to equity, we are still on a journey. the pandemic did not create the iniquities. it has laid them bear. our vaccine program is a good example. it is a work in progress. >> you have some carrots.

are there any stakes? what about as they call them vaccine passports, which would allow you to do certain things are not. -- things or not. >> i am open to it but i have mixed emotions. to your prior question, a lot of if not all government issued ids tend to have a disproportionate discrimination even if unintended against communities of color. if right now we started issuing these vaccine passports and accepting my comments that the pursuit of equity and the vaccine rollout is not where we need it to be, that is unintentionally discriminating. i am open-minded to it, but i would rather wait until we achieve our objectives and we get to the equity we are striving to get here. >> what is the new jersey shore going to look like this summer? are we going to have packed boardwalks? >> i think we will.

we have a lot of faults and the anecdotal evidence is pretty compelling and more than anecdotal if you look at jersey shore house rentals. it is really hard to get a place right now. i think it is a combination of folks breaking out. we are opening the state up here people cannot wait for that to happen including yours truly. also, still folks who are probably going to travel on the margin less than they may have in the past. they are probably going to stay closer to home. we are blessed with one of america's jewels, the jersey shore. i think it is going to be a big summer. >> you have ambitious goals and you have plans on how to achieve it. 4.7 million new jerseyans fully vaccinated by the end of june. if you don't make that, what is the risk? >> we have been clobbered as you and i discussed. over 25,000 losses of life.

i fear that we leave ourselves exposed. i am not sure necessarily to a third wave, that i am sure we will leave ourselves exposed to unnecessary illness and loss-of-life. i would urge everybody -- these vaccines are safe. they are effective. the risk to any individual from their personal health standpoint is far and away higher not taking the vaccine benitez taking it -- benitez taking it. haidi: new jersey governor phil murphy speaking with david westin. don't miss our chat with the boston fed president happening tomorrow 8:00 at 10:00 a.m. if you are watching in sydney. this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: here's a quick check of the latest headlines. crystal mania sends altar coins soaring. does going surged as much as 50% once again. other tokens jumped 14%. classic surged more than 30% tier the recent rally has seen the rally of all digital token

search past 2.25 trillion dollars with doged becoming -- with doge becoming a new poster child. goldman sachs is planning to tell u.s. employees they should prepared to work from officers again the middle of next month. citigroup's australia retail operations are said to be drawing interest from several local lenders as the bank looks to offload the entire unit in one piece. sources say anz and knab are in talks to buy the assets with several other offices showing interest. we are minutes away from the open in south korea. let's turn to sophie with what to watch. sophie: south korea markets are closed. australian markets focused.

keeping an eye on anz. cash earnings rose to 2.3 million dollars. the bank did announce an interim dividend. lines saying the additions are continuing into tonight 21. shareholders may be voting against a report. keeping an eye on miners and the raw materials. commodity markets, on this rally. haidi: the commodities roller coaster continues. coming up, the market outlook for citi private bank strategist. plus, india's prime minister has

maintained impressive popularity ratings until now. it was says on whether his grip on power is slipping. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ ♪

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shery: welcome to daybreak: asia from bloomberg's world headquarters in new york. haidi: sydney has just opened for trade. our top stories. asian stocks set for a volatile open amid a u.s. tech slump. janet yellen creates confusion in markets before clarifying she is not advocating for higher interest rates. prime minister modi's fight to

impose a national lockdown, leaving it to the states to decide. our voters now turning on him? crypto media is taking over as alt coins blowup. the virtual currency surging as much as 50%. shery: australia coming online. let's turn to sophie in hong kong. sophie: japan is off-line along with china. kiwi stocks are snapping a five-day gain. the kiwi dollar on the rise. the beach in jobs data. -- the beat in jobs data. they af 5200 coming online. keeping a close eye on raw materials given the upward pressure we have seen for earnings. jp morgan raising the year end target for the aussie benchmark.

keeping a close eye on oil have brent trading -- a close eye on oil. the slow down and it will demand we are seeing in india. it is being priced into markets. flipping the board for a check on anz shares. cash profit coming in at $2.3 billion or seeing some upside moves. the second-best performer among australian financials so far this year. haidi: sophie in hong kong. as economies reopen, investors are looking for the biggest beneficiaries to park their cash. our next guest says pursuing dividends is a good idea when interest rates and inflation are going up. let's bring in the asia pacific

investment strategist. you said hedging is the way to go. what is your favorite strategy as we straddled this position between a great deal of pandemic related uncertainty but the clear path toward reopening ? >> thank you for having me. we think the reopening is still happening. probably just being delayed in some parts. emerging markets. those markets that have been hurt most intensely by the pandemic still offer that cyclical opportunity. that includes even in europe. i think the progress toward vaccination and reopening, you will see more of that in the second half. that will help with this trend. haidi: the other market you are interested in is china. talk to me about where we are at

in terms of the rogatory crackdown. -- the regulatory crackdown. is now the time to pick up some bargains before things start turning around? >> with regards to chinese regulation, at the start of the year, we were worried about the antitrust issue, the fintech issue. that involved financials to systemic risks. and also what to do with the data. i think on all three fronts, there have been many clarifications about what the regulators intend to do. so these companies can move on and if they need instructions, so be it. at least lifecare zone. they remain in the most profitable and growthy parts of the economy.

that is not going to change. we are almost there in terms of credit policy. we are going to have to go through a little more tough times in the second quarter. we are almost of their on the credit front as well. i think i am still struggling to call this the end of it, but we are pretty close. haidi: we have had a lot of back-and-forth in the u.s. session today because of comments from secretary yellen. whether or not there would be a rate hike because of an overheating economy. how much longer can emerging markets eggnog the surge in headline inflation? -- markets ignore the surge and a headline inflation? can central-bank and bond markets ignore inflation? >> there is a little bit of a misconception. when the external positions are comfortable, meaning the total

external debt load and trade deficit is not too big, which is the case now. a lot of them have trade surpluses and demand for products like commodities is actually pretty strong. in this environment, we have rising inflation, rising u.s. interest rates that is positive for emerging markets. it is coming because of stronger u.s. demand. as much as biden wants to improve u.s. competitiveness, a lot of all this fiscal stimulus infrastructure needs to be imported. asia in particular tends to benefit from that because 45 percent of u.s. imports come from asia. i think the whole em preference still makes sense in a growth driven rise interest rates backdrop. shery: what if the inflation rise forces the fed to move more

quickly? >> i think that is probably going to happen compared to the top. at least the interest rate swaps market is -- has recognized this. there needs to be a little of cash down. generally speaking, i think yellen has got it right. there will be an inflation impact. it will be overheating risks eventually. the fed needs to recognize that and communicate it in more proper way -- in a more proper way. shery: in the meantime, when it comes to finding opportunities with this backdrop of whether we are going to see more inflation or not, where do you find enough value that despite these challenges ahead and the uncertainty, you would be tempted to invest?

>> obviously the environment is not going to be as good as last year. now, we need to be more realistic about returning expectations. i do feel there are areas we can be actionable now. first is reopening trade. airlines, commodities and retail. these things have been hurt by the pandemic. and now it is a recovering in a significant way. -- it is recovering in a significant way. the second area is about finding the value within growth, which is kind of related to my comment about china. the tech names that have had the significant correction do also offer value opportunity. if you are a fixed income guy, you want to consider putting off swaps for portfolio and also consider some alternatives. haidi: i want to get a final

word on south korea because it is one of the best-performing, the best performing out of the emerging markets over the past year or so. as the news of the shortselling being lifted kind of already being priced in? >> i think the shortselling thing is a positive thing because it allows more sustainable development. the way the korean market has gone is it is well beyond expectations. if you look at the chinese credit situation, the credit situation brings korean markets down. the correlation is fairly high and that is because a lot of korean trade is done with china. i think there are some things to worry about. we are neutral.

we still remain in that position. we are not terribly positive about that market at the moment. shery: thank you very much for joining us. we did get those anz earnings earlier today with anz's first half cash profit coming in at 2.9 9 billion aussie dollars. the ceo saying the australian economy is firing on all cylinders after the results showed a decline -- a climb in first half profits. he is optimistic about the coming months. >> thank you so much. things are more optimistic. i don't think any of us would have imagined we would be sitting here in early may 2021 with this optimism when you think about what we have come through over the last year. the pandemic is not over. there is still a long way to go.

we are going to see an increase in strength of the economy in australia. housing is starting to flatten out a little bit. it has had a very strong run. people have been saving heavily and that has been a real strength of the australian system. we have seen record levels of deposit activity. people are looking to deploy that. as you know, demand is reasonably quick to respond to market signals and a supply on housing takes a little bit of time. there is a classic supply shortage. we think that shortage will be resolved over the next 18 months. for the next 12 to 18 months, it is going to continue to be a solid market. haidi: you alluded to the uncertainty related with the fact we are still in global pandemic. when it comes to the

uncertainty, what does it mean for the impairment revision release? is that something you see sustained into the remainder of the year? shery: this goes back to the -- >> this goes back to the basics. we know there are three really big drivers of our credit provisions in terms of the risk in the bank. one is gdp growth. the other is unemployment. the third is house prices. the relief we gave ended on march 31. if anything since then, things are starting to look more optimistic. march 31, we were only just coming out of the australian support package. a lot of the support was coming out. we did not know what was going to happen. as it has turned out, things have strengthened even further. gdp looks pretty strong. hard to see that deteriorating from this perspective. unemployment is looking really good.

if things stay where they are, you could see banks release provisions over the balance of the year. there is still a lot of uncertainty around those sectors. shery: did you foresee any risk that policymakers could be removing stimulus a little too early? >> there is always a risk. i think the government have done a good job of managing that. there was a lot of concern about jobs being removed. you see unemployment putting much back to where it was pre-covid. with shot borders and with the down the line australian economy, it has soaked up the unemployment. i think it was deftly managed by government. the real test will be the budget next week, which will determine the other three.

haidi: we saw the end of the job keeper subsidy program. did you pick up any signs of distress from that program ending? >> honestly, not yet. it is still relatively early days. let's not forget where we thank the streets was going to be -- a lot of small businesses were only able to operate because of the job keeper support. as that finished, what is happening now is a small number of small businesses, only for said that ask for referral are still in difficulty. i would imagine a lot of their job keeper removal is material. the question is, how long can they survive? can they hold on to get into the wave of economic recovery or is it going to be too late echo i would not expect to see that at

least for another couple of months. normally businesses can make do for a time. once you get to 90 days, it is going to be more like june when you start to see the data of how many small businesses have suffered. haidi: the anz ceo speaking to us exclusively earlier on. will be discussing india's complex political landscape. coming up next, the broadening crypto craze. the crypto index remains up to hundred percent as other going to gain vested interests. this is bloomberg. ♪

vonnie: this is daybreak: asia. british prime minister boris johnson says there is a good

chance social distancing rules in england will be cracked on june 21. johnson said lucked on easing plans remain on track. that is due to a sharp fall in infections and the massive rollout of vaccines. the prime minister is making his case to voters in england and scotland. japan's prime minister is said to be grappling with whether to end or extend a coronavirus state of emergency for tokyo and greater osaka. according to a local broadcaster, he told a cabinet advisor a decision over whether to lift the emergency will be tough and he is especially concerned there has been no decline in cases. hong kong's chief executive says she is a decision to make covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for foreign domestic workers. the announcement last week that all foreign domestic health care workers -- health workers must get vaccinated was met with a

wave of criticism. carrie lam says this shows the government is listening. in mexico city, a raise to subway track has collapsed, sending train cars with passengers aboard to the ground. at least two dozen people have been killed. the accident is being blamed on a broken beam. a subway line opened in two thousand 12. mexico city's subway system is one of the largest in the world. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i am vonnie quinn. this is bloomberg. shery: let's turn to cryptocurrencies. bloomberg's crypto index out to hundred percent this year. let's get more from our cross as that team editor. what is driving these rallies echo >> there is so much

going on with people being concerned about inflation and stimulus worldwide. you have people who have been getting used to trading on their phones and they are now looking at cryptocurrencies and they are getting comfortable with crypto enough to look beyond that coin at a lot of these other cryptocurrencies that are out there. shery: what is happening with bitcoin as well? we saw a there. -- a dip there. >> it actually almost got to 65,000 in the middle of april. it has come down since then. it came down right after jp morgan had warned it needed to hold above 60,000 to keep the momentum. that from jp morgan looks like a well-timed call.

they said things could go down from there. some of the metrics and technical indicators looked like they were getting a little stretched on it.

crypto maturing as an asset class overall. haidi: our cross asset team editor. still on the incredible story of what we see across the crypto universe. be sure to tune in to bloomberg radio. you will get the in-depth analysis from the daybreak team. they are broadcasting live from our studio in hong kong. you can listen in on the app. plenty more ahead. this is bloomberg. ♪

haidi: a quick check of the latest headlines. pfizer raised its forecast for the fiscal year and said the coronavirus vaccine revenue will be higher than expected. the drugmaker expects vaccine held -- vaccine sales to hit 26 billion dollars. third-quarter sales and profit also beat estimates nissan is selling its $1.4 billion stake in -- it looks to shred holding supply. those models are discontinued due to poor sales. apple is rolling out a new potential revenue generator. it launched a new slots for a paid advertisement. on the app store search page, giving ads more exposure. previously, developers could did.

-- could bid. advertising is excited to be a small slice of revenue. let's take a look at the state of play when it comes to trading across asia. we are seeing upside of a 10th of 1% when it comes to trading in australia. we are watching anz after robust results. new zealand seeing a down side of six tens percent. we have been hearing from the rbnz warning of new tools to curb excessive price growth in new zealand in real estate. tech dragged down momentum when street.s to trading on wall coming up next, we'll be hearing from the sk council about how the sk group is incorporating priorities across investing decisions. plus, will be getting pmi data

out of hong kong and singapore. we'll bring you those numbers and a broad indicator of how the economic recovery is going. this is bloomberg. ♪ wanna help kids get their homework done? well, an internet connection's a good start. but kids also need computers. and sometimes the hardest thing about homework is finding a place to do it. so why not hook community centers up with wifi? for kids like us, and all the amazing things we're gonna learn. over the next 10 years, comcast is committing $1 billion to reach 50 million low-income americans with the tools and resources they need to be ready for anything. i hope you're ready. 'cause we are.

♪ haidi: breaking news out of hong kong. mi numbers coming in at 50.3 in the third consecutive month of expansion. still a little bit of a slowdown from the previous month when we saw the number come in at 50.5. remember, hong kong had finally turned a quarter -- corner in the first quarter. we saw growth accelerating at the fastest rate since 2010. it seems that may continue with the april numbers in hong kong coming in at expansionary

territory, 50.3. haidi: we are getting the pmi numbers for singapore as well. one of the places that has done very well to curb the virus. we've also heard new outbreaks continuing to be problematic. the singer more pmi for april coming in at 51.8. that's a jump from 53.5 in the month of march. april number was a decline of 51.8. it's above that demarcation between contraction and growth. certainly watching going forward whether we will see it -- continued strength in production and manufacturing activity in singapore. let's take a look at the market reaction with sophie kamaruddin and. what are you seeing? sophie: aussie stocks marginally higher this morning with energy, health care, and financials leading the way in sydney.

tech is under pressure. this as we are seeing divergence when it comes to the earnings picture. we have commodities in the spotlight giving -- given the values we have seen across the commodities complex. the highest level since november 2018. in new zealand, the kiwi dollar with losses on tuesday. advance this morning on the back of the jobs speech from new zealand. asp bank saying that the rbnz will stay accommodative over the coming year. in australia, rates will stay at emergency levels until 2024. upgrading its economic outlook. given that expected pace of recovery, a boom from commodity price gains. westpac predicts that us trail yes budget deficit will narrow sharply. shery: let's turn to vonnie quinn for the first word

headlines. vonnie: thank you. president biden has set a new target of 70% for u.s. adults receiving at least one covid vaccine shot by july 1. the administration sees a drop off in inoculations. 50% of u.s. adults have had one shot. 41% are fully vaccinated. urging americans to get vaccinated, biden urged states to make adolescents eligible for vaccine. >> many adults have not been vaccinated because they have found it too confusing or difficult or inconvenient to get a shot. for those having trouble finding a location or making an appointment, we will make it easier than ever. vonnie: president biden also saying he hopes to meet with russian president vladimir putin during his visit to europe next month. the president says his team's work on scheduling a meeting. after the leader spoke last month, the white house said

biden will have a meeting in the third come -- and a third country. u.k. prime minister boris johnson says a new era has begun in u.k. india relations. he made the comment in a statement following a virtual meeting with his indian counterpart. both nations pledged a leap in their diplomacy and said they aim to double trade by 2030. johnson said britain will continue to support india as it confronts its covid crisis. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has a new deadline to form a coalition government. his party could be pushed into the opposition for the first time in 12 years. netanyahu has struggled to support -- secure a majority since march 23 when elections ended in deadlock. his fourth consecutive time in the past two years. global news 24 hours a day on

air and at bloomberg quicktake, powered by 2700 journalists and analysts in 120 countries. this is bloomberg. this is bloomberg. shery: south korean companies have been accelerating their transition to greener business. sk group has long been recognized as a pioneer of the companies yesterday movement. the profit -- the president of the social value committee spoke exclusively to david ingles about the group's strategy. >> from 2017 until 2019, we have come up with $65 million in funding for the purposes of impact investing and have invested in 24 startups. out of the fund, 60% has been -- been deployed and invested in companies with social enterprise and venture in the likes of the tech and environment space. >> do you have an estimate for when you think you might use up the remaining 40% of the fund?

are you planning on raising another fund, more money along these lines? >> we plan to invest the remaining 40% within this year. we are co-investing with various banks including shanghai on an korea development bank. we will cordate together and make the investment decisions. we plan to launch the fourth fund, totaling $44.6 million, by the second quarter of this year. >> i want to talk about the specific objectives of the group when it comes to esg. i'm sure that you will tell me that you are very serious when it comes to these efforts. if you could quantify it for us, how serious is esg for you guys? why is it not simply a pr campaign? >> the term esg has been more widely used and immersed within the sk group in the past three years.

until now, the three components of yesterday have been considered separate. however, in the capital markets these days, there are various methodologies to assess esg and the impact has grown immensely. we have been carefully considering ways to look at esg from a more holistic approach. >> i understand last year, sk and its subsidiaries have essentially committed to comment by 2050, achieving 100% of the groups consumption for renewable energy. whether that is wind, solar, what have you. at the starting point, how much of your energy consumption now comes from renewables? >> it's a shame to say that less than 1% of sk groups energy consumption derives from a noble energy currently. however, we will achieve the goals by investing in solar and wind power indirect investment as well as buying renewable energy credit from existing renewable energy producers. >> are there specific milestones

and objectives between now and 2050 that you would like to achieve in terms of the energy mix to make sure you are in track to meet 100% by 2050? >> joining means we will have detailed plans to summit our goals. our base case would be to get the groups energy consumption to reach 60% were noble energy by 2030. >> a big part of the conversation of corporate governance right now is around diversity and inclusion. the issue and challenge varies from place to place. some might have to do with culture and corporate culture. can you talk to us about the specific challenges people have to understand about corporate korea, when it comes to

increasing female representation on management committees and boards? >> i understand the female boardmember ratio for s&p 500 companies stands at 25%. however, the ratio for south korea's 200 biggest companies stands at 4.5%. sk group is at 9.2%. we do recognize there are needs -- there needs to be significant improvement. in korean culture, it wasn't easy for women to participate in the workforce do to long-standing culture. society is demanding faster changes in terms of gender and age. we expect to see faster structural changes as a result. we have not said an official target yet but there have been talks to at least match the ratio of s&p 500 companies at when he 5%. i would think that would be common sense within the sk group. haidi: the president of sk

social value committee. up next, modi gets a bruising after key losses in indian state elections. the nation struggling as covid rages. this is bloomberg. ♪

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shery: let's take a look at the state of play when it comes to currencies trading in this early part of the asian session. we saw broad drawer strength overnight. some of those losses more extreme. the kiwi dollar as well of the aussie dollar. a recovery climb. the aussie trading just above $.70. we are seeing a little bit of strength when it comes to the kiwi as well as the potential for more lending restrictions and other tools to curb prices from the rbnz. shery: that's from covid in india could double in the coming weeks. the country has passed more than 20 million infections. let's get the latest from roop lard. ruth, how are things there and what are the expert saying? ruth: debts could more than double.

they have been mounting throughout the pandemic. they say there is undercounting of case and fatalities in india. to put that in perspective, on saturday, and yes all the world's highest ever case tally of over 400,000 infections. experts are saying that probably represents just one quarter of the cases out there. shery: how much of the global aid is flowing through to india right now? ruth: we have started seeing this aid arrive from countries like france, the u.s., the u.k.. we are talking about oxygen cylinder traders -- cylinders, critical medicines. there is still a chronic lack of coordination about getting these hot -- these to hospitals. some hospitals have started receiving about we are not seeing the situation test situation ease. they are still making desperate pleas on social media for oxygen and medical help for their loved ones.

even yesterday, we were seeing hospital struggling to get an adequate supply of oxygen. it hasn't eased the situation on the ground yet. shery: covid has burst the bio bubble of the indian premier league. what are we seeing their? ruth: this league has been suspended after several players contracted covid-19. of course, this leak has been really harshly criticized. there's been a fierce debate happening in india. many people have called it in sank -- insensitive to conduct this tournament. some cricketers are publicly saying that they would not participate in it. they have elected instead to stay home and care for their families and communities. shery: despite the raging pandemic in india, the prime minister continues to resist

pressure to lockdown the country. this as he loses key elections. we discussed that political implication with our guest. thank you so much for your time. given that we are still years away from national elections, how much of an immediate threat is this to prime minister modi? >> one should remember that the prime minister may have a referendum on his leadership. february and march, when the second wave began to rage, the indian government had an option to postpone these elections. i think the prime minister took a calculated political bet. he wanted to bolster his popularity. particularly in the eastern indian state. the covid national committee that the government established last year essentially did not

meet from february onwards. the prime minister was busy on the campaign trail. since he made this referendum on his leadership, the fact that he lost three of his four elections will certainly damage his reputation, will damage the ruling parties hold on india. the fact remains that elections are three years away. mr. modi has an opportunity to deal with this national emergency effectively. in order to restore his reputation. the big question, we see very little of the prime minister in public. shery: are we going to see a bit of tension and damage to his relationship with businesses as well? we know that business doesn't want a lockdown. surprisingly, we heard from the president of the confederation of indian industries. he's the wealthiest banker in india. he's basically imploring authorities to consider curbing

economic activity given the tragedy right now. vasuki: you have a government with the next really difficult charge. if you look at the experience of the lockdown 12 months ago, the government is handled that. they gave little notice, particularly having a damaging impact on the poor. hundreds of millions of migrant labor who subtly became unemployed. i think that has really start the government -- guard the government in terms of imposing a national lockdown once again. the business community is calculating. 12.5% growth. that's not going to be achieved. the business community is calculating that you need to deal with this national emergency, this pandemic at this point in time. they are willing to pay the cost of a national lockdown. haidi: you can have anger at the

existing administration for mishandling of the pandemic. what does that mean if the opposition is not organized enough to take on, to present a real alternative option? vasuki: the national opposition has been weakened. it weaken since the last election. it is certainly not secure in the state election. in a broader way, if you look at the recent farmers protest which predates the pandemic, there's a lot of public anger out there. it's hard to predict which way the public is going to behave after the pandemic has been resolved. you are likely to hear from the street. the big lesson from the state elections was, we have a group of powerful regional leaders who can cobble together a coalition potentially in three years and

pose a serious threat to the ruling party. this has happened in the past. they were in power 20 years ago and lost an election to a coalition led by the congress. there's nothing predetermined in politics. the elections are three years away. modi has a chance of restoring his reputation. haidi: what's the strategy? does he doubled down on the nationalism, the grand modi that o -- capital -- catapulted him in the first place? does that still work in the era of the pandemic? vasuki: things really depend on if he is willing to change his behavior, attitude, and leadership style. he is certainly an incredibly popular leader. it's partially on driving these religious, ethnic, cultural

divides in the country. that has certainly been the most durable thing for his party. the pandemic has a way like natural disasters, of shaping the outcome. it's unprintable to say how indians are going to react after the pandemic has been resolved, whether they are going to look at the capacity and capability of the national government in terms of malign incompetence. modi has an opportunity to rebuild trust. whether he will be able to do it, whether he's willing to do it is a question mark. haidi: we appreciate your time and analysis with us. let's take a look at commodities which have been just on such a strong run, particularly when it

comes to agricultural commodities. crude, we are still seeing and advancement of crude up by over 1%. goldman sachs to the further upside as we continue optimism over the economic recovery in the u.s.. as well as a resumption of travel within the u.s. as well despite those concerns over the demise of demand out of india. copper price has more upside on strong demand. we are seeing that price continue to hover. there it is at $10,000. there is seem to be even higher room to move on the continued global demand for industrial raw materials. soy, there is concern in the northern hemisphere tearout -- drought. maybe we are seeing atop for soybean prices. corn is hovering at close to seven dollars.

3/10 of 1% higher. much more ahead. this. ♪ -- this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ shery: here's a quick check of the latest business flash headlines. the march back to wall street is gaining momentum. goldman sachs is planning to tell u.s. employees they should

be prepared to work from offices again by the middle of next month. that follows jp morgan's mandate last week for a return to offices starting in july. citigroup's retail operations are set to -- the bank looks to offload the entire unit in one piece. sources say inc is in talks to buy the assets with several other lenders showing interest. we are told any deal could be finalized by july. inc banks first-half profits climbed as the lender one back bad debt provisions during made -- majoring the pandemic. the economic recovery builds. cash earnings of 2.3 billion borrow -- dollars missed consensus estimate by bloomberg. the bank will reinstate paying after it was canceled last year due to the pandemic. >> things are much more

optimistic than they have been in a long time. i don't think any of us could've imagined we would be sitting here in early may 2021 with a sense of optimism. shery: let's take a look at some of the stocks we are watching. sophie: we are keeping an eye on asian stocks listed in hong kong as well as taiwan. the u.s. called for a major increase in domestic production to deal with the price shortages and reduce dependence. tsmc getting 61% of its revenue from the united states. on april sales update ahead of the first quarter earnings report card. foxconn is among 19 companies that have applied for india's incentive plan for i.t. hardware manufacturing. let's get a look at taiwanese equities. investors have soured on taiwan share market with the index falling for four straight days, below a support level it held

since november. it is looking to test its 50 day moving average among concerns of price evaluations and the buyers outbreak in focus in taiwan. we have concerns over the situation for the virus in vietnam. vietnam's health minister saying the situation there is worrisome and has ordered strict border patrol to stem the spread of the infection. shery: coming up, the macro economic outlook. where to next for gold and precious metals? an analyst joined later. haidi: we have that big interview as well. the boston fed president. thursday, you are watching from sydney. we have lots mor come. that's it for daybreak asia. market coverage continues. we are looking ahead for the start of trading in hong kong. bloomberg markets is next. this is bloomberg.

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♪ >> good morning. it's 9:00 across greater china. i'm david ingles. markets are shut today but we are going to get things up and running in 30 minutes in hong kong. let's get here top stories today. overnight, janet yellen clarifying that she would not predict or recommend a fed rate hike after her comments a few hours earlier sparking a