haidi: a very good morning and welcome to "daybreak australia." we're counting down to asia's major market open. shery: good evening from new york. top stories this hour, inflation worries lead to another day of losses on wall street. technology shares paired earlier gains as rising commodity prices sparked fears of higher prices. haidi: china sink scrip to

currency with a warning that they cannot be used as payment. they say they are not real money. shery: the race for the top post at j.p. morgan is growing closer. leadership overall puts two women at the front among those likely to succeed jamie dimon as ceo. this is the picture cost wall street. u.s. futures under a little bit of pressure after we saw the s&p 500 falling. we had a day of gains and losses despite solid results from the likes of macy's and home depot. we will hear from target and lows as well later. you can see the energy sector, the worst in two weeks. this put into context after 40% gain year-to-date. the dollar index we saw is falling to around a four month low. rick's sentiment was boosted by comments from the fed vice chair that play down the risk of policy tightening. we are watching for the fed's april meeting minutes and wti dropping after reports we could

see significant progress being made between the u.s. and iran on that nuclear deal. haidi: let's take a look at how we are setting up when it comes to markets. inflation fears continue to plague investor sentiment. sophie, what are you watching? sophie: seeing downside moves for kiwi stocks. hong kong is off-line. we are seeing the potential for losses of more than 1% in tokyo and sydney. pandemic concerns also loom large over asia. philippians cutting the economic outlook. helping shore up the economy in the face of the outbreak. optimism may wane further while europe's rebound -- that sentiment is gathering pace. the euro area is the most overweight region globally, and investors are long u.k. stocks for the first time since 2012. the euro trading at a high with sights to a fresh year-to-date

high. gold miners also might track bouillon higher as prices hit a three month high in the u.s. session with investors turning net buyers. looking ahead, morgan stanley seeing gold potentially saying -- staying, even as it expects the to taper ahead of the fed update wednesday. with inflation top of mind, still tops the list of biggest risks in a survey. of note, bitcoin in the survey, bitcoin long position, the most crowded trade in the world. shery: we have breaking news. we are getting the latest earnings results from trip.com, the online travel company reporting revenue for the first quarter that beat analyst estimates coming in that 4.1 billion yuan. the estimate was only around 3 billion yuan. this is still a 13% slump, but

we continue to see travel improving as the covid pandemic gets reigned in with accelerating vaccinations. reservation revenue also a jump of 39% year on year. ticketing revenue though, a contraction of 37% on year. but overall first quarter revenue beating analyst estimates. let's now turn to one of our top read stories. bitcoin slumping to its lowest since february after china's central bank reiterated cryptocurrencies cannot be used as a form of payment. list cross to kriti gupta for more on this. what else are they saying? kriti: they are saying you just cannot use it for payment at all, that they are not real currencies. a stark contrast to what you are seeing stateside. the likes of overstock, tesla and several others excepting

bitcoin for a while. china saying we do not think it is a real form of payment. also saying there is not really a way to price those products financials, payment institutions, you just cannot use them. so just saying we are not behind this. haidi: this comes at a pretty bearish time in terms of the legitimization of bitcoin after the tesla and elon musk comments, right? kriti: absolutely. bitcoin has had such a tough few weeks and a lot of this is coming with the broader risk sentiment. you've course have elon musk on top of that, playing a bit of tug-of-war with bitcoin prices. most recently insinuating that tesla may have already sold or plans to sell some of their bitcoin holdings. that was one of the major reasons bitcoin has risen so much, this idea that elon musk and tesla would be the game changer for bitcoin's mainstream acceptance. now taking the other side of

that. really important to keep in mind bitcoin has a strong correlation with tech at the moment. so when you see that tech underperformance, sometimes cross asset trade also means selling bitcoin. haidi: kriti gupta there in new york. never a dull moment in equipped. you can follow -- never a dull moment in the crypto space. you can get the market run down in just one click along with commentary and analysis from bloomberg. the race to the financial world's most prized -- two women have been pushed forward towards the front after being named co. heads of the bank's massive consumer division. let's get more from chenal about tech. tell us everything you know

about this. >> the reason it is so incredible is because these two women have had such a rapid ascent at j.p. morgan. a number of different jobs over the last several years. very public facing role. runs huge portions of revenue at the bank. now they will run the consumer operations is gordon smith, who is copresident, is going to retire. daniel pinto will say -- stay as copresident with that puts two women in a very significant line of succession in moves that have really been slowly telegraphed for years. shery: very slowly telegraphed. when can we see this change at the helm? sonali: jamie dimon every few years says he is staying on another five years.

he has not announced plans to step back in any significant way. that said, it is interesting to see this get a little clearer at the top for the picture of the people who are likely to take over. a lot of people on wall street have seen this before. jamie dimon has stuck around for a long time. it leads to a lot of questions like, does he stick around a lot longer, and if not, what is his next act? will he take some kind of political role at some point, as has been rumored for quite a long time? obviously he is a huge figure. increasingly a figure in matters of u.s. policy, as we have seen in the annual letter. so no direct plans to leave anytime soon, but a cleaer picture on what their succession planning looks like. haidi: of course we know jane fraser as one of the leading

women to take these leading positions on wall street. if this was to happen, how progressive would it be in terms of breaking these glass ceilings and being more representative at achieving that equality when it comes to wall street big banks? sonali: it is huge. why is that? because the last couple centuries in the u.s. banking history, there has never been a woman until this year with jan frazier at citigroup to run one of the top u.s. banks. when you look at all the numbers that have been reported, sometimes for the first time, among thousands of executives at the big six u.s. banks, less than 30% are female. the numbers get even worse when you look at what it looks like for people of color. so there has been huge demand by society, by lawmakers, to diversify the top of these banks. the bank ceo's actually go to hearings in washington next week

where they will be asked likely about diversity plans. so you are seeing a huge push from consumers, from investors, and really, these changes are drastic in the near decade of covering wall street i have never seen anything like it. shery: sonali basak there with the latest on wall street. let's now get to vonnie quinn. vonnie: bloomberg news learned president biden will delay by two weeks a ban on u.s. investments in certain chinese companies set to take effect may 27. sources tell us officials can draft guidance clarifying policy. we're told it includes three of the biggest telecoms. colonial pipeline says its communication system is back in service after facing network issues that affected shippers earlier. the crucial fuel supplier has been trying to recover from a

cyberattack that forced to shut down, crippling oil across the southeastern u.s. the outage caused widespread gas shortages and price hikes. fuel supplies are not still fully restored. president biden has been touting his nearly $175,000 ev proposal that seeks to transform the auto industry, even as a global chip shortage hinders production. he visited a ford plant in michigan to get a sneak peek at its all electric f150 lightning. ford says it will be a turning point in the electric vehicle revolution, as the u.s. takes on china in the race to lead the global ev market. >> the future of the auto industry is electric. there is no turning back. as rory says, the american auto industry is at a crossroads. the real question is whether we will lead or we will fall behind in the race to the future. vonnie: the u.s. congress has passed legislation aimed at combating hate crimes against asian americans and pacific

islanders. the house sends the bill to president biden, who says he will sign it. it will expedite federal reviews of hate crimes. attacks against asian americans has been rising amid the pandemic. global news 24 hours a day on air and on bloomberg quicktake, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i'm vonnie quinn. this is bloomberg. haidi: still ahead, james hardie industries ceo jack truong joins us later in the show. investors are still unhappy with the forecast. next, we are going to be hearing from south korea on the debate on whether the country's women should be subject to military military service. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪

shery: taking a look at u.s.

retailers, walmart shares jumped after posting strong quarterly sales growth and boosting profit outlook. impressive given it faced tough comparatives with last year. home depot showed continued sales growth on top of the pandemic-induced home improvement boom. and macy's delivered solid profits that defied expectations and raised their earnings forecast for the year as a reopening economy helped drive shoppers back to malls. our next guest says despite them having a strong season, the rise in e-commerce will continue. scott crowe is chief investment strategist. great to have you with us. how should investors be playing this in the markets? are we talking about traditional retailers that are expanding into e-commerce, or just more e-commerce-focused places? scott: both. great to be back with you. stepping back a little bit, real estate is at the heart of the reopening trade.

there are some sectors that will come roaring back and there are some sectors that are being permanently changed forever. on the roaring back side of the equation, it relates to how we shop. there are two areas that will continue to grow. the first is e-commerce. you look at demand, is all about amazon, and those retailers that are left, embracing an omni-channel platform where they understand the need an e-commerce platform alongside a physical storefront. the other area will come rolling back is service retail. we are all going back to the gym, restaurants, and the movie theaters. one of the ways to play that is a company called epr properties. on the other side you have malls and office buildings. we are going to be using those a lot less because a lot of the activities we used to do there are being supplanted by technology that we have learned to use really deeply in our lives during the pandemic. shery: are we still going to

want to move to the root -- to the suburbs? are these trends going to continue? scott: i think they are. they were already happening free covid. millennials are aging out of the cities. during the pandemic we saw people pulling forward that demand. think of a couple in new york city who just had a kid and they were going to stay there, and they just said let's just go now. the second aspect is this idea of flexibility of place. i have the ability to shop from anywhere for a long time. now to some extent we have the ability to work from anywhere. that will encourage people to live in different locations, suburban locations, and geographically in the u.s., the south and southeast, better weather, lower taxes, and better cost-of-living. that said, we are seeing early signs that people are moving back into the cities. i think you will see a catch-up trade there. activity in a place like new york in terms of new leases has

spiked significantly. interestingly, by a much younger renter demographic. as prices have come down, younger renters will move back into the city, and the vibrancy that creates for them to live. haidi: which of the pandemic darlings will stick around in a different form in terms of the longer-term growth story? to the trends you were just talking about, we spoke with the airbnb founder a couple days ago, and he said because of this idea that people can now work remotely from anywhere, they are not seeing much longer stays being bought. scott: yes. airbnb is a great example of a company that has proven itself through the pandemic. it is done much better than the average hotel, which was completely closed. the fact we have more flexibility as a relates to place means we will be using more apps and technology like airbnb. another area to look out for, another company or technology,

really, is flex office space. wework is coming back into the market by a spac in september and that will be interesting to look at. in the new way we work, we're going to demand more flexibility and you could see flex office space reach up to 25% to 30% of office demand to help us achieve how we want to work in a more flexible manner in the future. that is a great comeback story because remember, that company almost went bankrupt about a year ago. haidi: i'm looking at your geographic allocations, and as of february, 50% in the u.s., 16% in europe. is that still the case? it feels like the recovery narrative has slipped. whether you're talking about the vaccine rollout or new operates, it feels like europe and the u.s. are doing a lot better than asia. scott: they are. particularly in the u.s. and the u.k. we're fortunate enough here to

have gotten the vaccine. even though the lockdown was probably more haphazard than in other parts of the world, vaccination rates are increased. looking at about 60% for people having their first shot. the problem is for a full reopening to happen we have to reach herd immunity, and there will be challenges for that. we're already seeing the curve flattening as it relates the vaccine. but in the u.s. we are ahead of many parts of the world as a relates to getting vaccinated. even in the northeast where i live, things will start to reopen in the next few weeks. haidi: complacency is now they worry. scott, always good to have you with us. you can get a roundup of the stories on today's edition of daybreak. go to dayb on your terminals. you can just get the news that

matters to you. this is bloomberg. ♪ this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: take a look at the commodities space. lumber futures falling for a seventh consecutive section -- session. perhaps signaling an end to that historic rally. gold and silver futures rose to a three-month high, right now under little pressure. inflation concerns, not to mention declines in u.s. equities and the u.s. dollar also helped during the new york session. corn did buck the trend, rallying in the new york session because it saw china carrying out matches -- massive purchases of u.s. corn. 1.4 million metric tons.

this followed massive purchases the day before. take a look at some after our movers. cisco flying back some losses from earlier because we have reporting tomorrow. bloomberg intelligence already saying they are going to benefit from corporate ip demand, but given the chip supply shortage the could take a hit. johnson & johnson under pressure. finland excluded johnson & johnson from its inoculation program. boeing also down .2% in the after our session. u.s. lawmakers now seeking new records on the 737 max and 787 from boeing and federal regulators given the recent safety concerns. haidi: we're going to go back to one of our top stories. the biden administration plans to delay by two weeks a ban of u.s. investments in certain chinese companies. it comes as they draft guidance to clarify what was a trump-era

policy that was confusing. let's bring in tom mackenzie from beijing. can you give us more clarity on why we are seeing this delay? tom: the deadline has been pushed back from a 27th until june 11 and you are actually right, this is about ensuring there is clarity around this ban. this ban was targeted at chinese companies the u.s. said had links to the chinese military. notably, the three big names that stood out, not the only ones with three of the most notable, were telecom companies. china unicom, china mobile, and china telecom. what the biden administration sources and officials are telling us in the u.s. is that they are working through this ban to ensure there is clarity, particularly around the question of subsidiaries. you will remember wall street was very confused when the ban was put in place at the end of last year by the trump administration. it caused a whiplash for investors.

there is also a lot of focus from lawmakers on capitol hill. they want to ensure the biden administration continue to take a tough line on china. officials again say they want to make sure these restrictions and this ban is legally sound and watertight. you remember as well that recently, the chinese smartphone and devices maker that was on this list, they sued the u.s. government and the u.s. pulled back and took them off the list. again, this is about making sure this ban is watertight legally. shery: let's talk about one chinese company, baidu, fluctuating in the regular session, lost ground, despite they having solid earnings. tom: first quarter revenue beating up 25%. $4.4 billilon u.s., suggesting their post-covid recovery continues. they benefited from longer-term investments, which recently listed. also their netflix unit, which

has its own subsidiary, reported strong earnings. this business, baidu, has been pivoting away from search, which had been its core searches, to things i k i, but also -- to things like ai. the share price has been under pressure in the u.s., since it listed in hong kong. down about 25% since march. part of that reason is the very intense competition in the search space, but also the newsfeeds page. baidu was also caught up in the archegos unwinding. it was a shareholding that was unwound quickly. that has been a negative effect as well. but competition certainly a focus for investors. shery: fell more than 40% since that debacle. tom mackenzie in beijing. you can also turn to our youtube channel for more context on beijing's crackdown. this is bloomberg. ♪ this is bloomberg. ♪

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vonnie: you're watching "daybreak australia." senate majority leader chuck schumer says the u.s. senate will include 52 billion dollars to bolster domestic semiconductor many festering. in a broader bill to enhance u.s. competitiveness with china. it was included in a 2021 defense policy bill, but it did not actually provide the funding. the addition to the china bill remedies it. schumer calls it a very big deal. china's central bank says

cryptocurrencies should not and cannot be used in market as money, since they are not real currency. the pboc posted the announcement on its official wechat account as they warned about a recent rebound in virtual currency speculation. it says financial payment institutions cannot price products or services with digital money, nor can they conduct insurance business with them. overall covid-19 cases in the u.s. are going down, but when it comes to a rare sometimes deadly inflammation in kids, the story may be less clear-cut. the cdc says about 3700 cases in children have been diagnosed since early in the pandemic, and the real number may be higher. as large parts of india continue to struggle against a rise in covid cases, the financial center of mumbai has reported fewer casualties and has been able to quell its outbreak more quickly. it reported under 2800 deaths

since march 1. that is about one quarter of the more than 10,000 deaths in new delhi. they say the city health system was better prepared. russia's representative has do not reports he expects an imminent breakthrough in ongoing negotiations to restore the iranian nuclear deal. he said on twitter while significant progress has been made, unresolved issues remain. earlier the cdc -- earlier they said an announcement would be expected wednesday. global news 24 hours a day on air and on bloomberg quicktake, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i'm vonnie quinn. this is bloomberg. haidi: time now for morning calls ahead of the asia trading day with sophie kamaruddin. at this point falling to a february low. we have the latest bank of america fund manager survey. what did it say? sophie: likely not helping sentiment is the may survey

poll. it showed bitcoin is the most crowded trade globally. but it did not spell doom just yet, as previous credit trays have done quite well. pulling up a chart on the terminal, taking a look at the bitcoin to gold ratio. we're seeing some shifting sense as gold is shining at a three month low amid inflation chatter and as the dollar is weakening. jp morgan saying institutional investors are backing off a bitcoin and returning to traditional plays like bouillon. we're seeing momentum traders partly behind the unwinding we are seeing in bitcoin over the past month. that signal then now turning negative for the first time since march 2020. jp morgan saying bitcoin not looking oversold yet. fair value model pointed to bitcoin overshooting, so we are

seeing some signals that could be pointing to shifting sense for bitcoin. haidi: our building materials maker is riding the recovery of hot housing markets. they recorded fourth-quarter profit that missed estimates, but it picked up market share is low interest rates drive new written into construction. let's get analysis now from jack truong who joins us from chicago. great to have you with us. of course your business spans the american markets, asia, and european markets. first, how does the post-pandemic recovery looks across various regions from your perspective? jack: thank you very much for having me on the show. this is now the 8th straight consecutive quarter we delivered results with growth above market and strong returns globally.

then what's very important here is we deliver these results before covid, at the onset of covid, and currently during covid. and what's very important also is this past quarter we delivered double-digit growth in both revenue in north america, europe and asia pacific. as you indicated, in all three geographies, there are various levels of market conditions. here in the u.s. we're having a very good tailwind of strong demand for housing. and in australia with a homebuilder program, the stimulus that was put in place last july, it's extorted a very strong tailwind in new home construction. in europe, the market is really more about renovations.

but despite those varying degrees of housing market conditions, james hardie, our business model is really about offering bright solutions for the market to allow us to gain shares. haidi: we have seen as part of this reflationary surge, a shortage and soaring prices for just about everything across commodities. be it lumber, copper, or iron ore. i wonder how that plays into your forecast. jack: a big example for the market in north america, specifically the u.s., lumber, the lack of lumber and lack of labor has been an issue in terms of new home construction, start to completion. and certainly we see it slow down a little this past month with the results we published this morning. but to us, for our business at

james hardie in north america, one third of our business is exposed to new construction, and two thirds in renovation and remodeling. whereas right now as more and m ore people work from home, there's also the need to renovate, and really change the exterior of their home. for that type of activity, lumber is not as much of an issue. that is where, for a company like us where we offer the right solutions in terms of beautifying the the home exteriors, at the same time direct production for their homes. so it's an opportunity for our company to continue to grow, despite the varying degrees of fluctuation within the market today. shery: can get the market seemed to think your guidance was a little conservative. your stock actually fell despite

the record performance that you talk about. jack: you know, for us, it's really about continuing to grow above markets by taking shares away from other categories. particularly those that require a lot more labor. for example, in bricks and stone or stucco, where it takes longer time to build. and the cost of construction is high. whereas our james hardie products are lightweight, and they are also faster to build and faster to construct. so it's a big value. we deliver not only to the builders, but the homeowners. and protecting their homes at the same time. these elements include fire protection, for example. shery: will that offset some pressure you might see, as

analysts are concerned right now when it comes to housing, that when stimulus funds run out, that we won't be seeing so much construction anymore, especially given that people are now starting to go back to work, the reopening is happening. will there be as much construction? jack: you know, if you look at j ust the u.s. market today, there's a shortage of homes in the u.s.. if you look at the data for new construction during the past decade, we built as an industry about 7 million single family homes over the past decade versus roughly 11 million single-family homes each decade in the previous five decades. so there is that shortage of homes. plus at the same time, the homes in the u.s. today, again, older and older. currently in the u.s. there are 80 million owner-occupied homes. and 44 million of those homes

are more than 40 years or older. what you see here is a confluence of not only homes older, but also a need for new homes. so the prospect for short-term, midterm, long-term new home construction in the housing market in the u.s. continues to be strong. the only issue right now that we see is that you read about the shortage of lumber, then also the lack of skilled labor. haidi: jack, what about the environment of rising rate prospects? is that one of the reasons why your stock was down overnight? jack: i am sorry, can you please repeat? haidi: i said is there a real concern that in the environment where rising rates are on the horizon, that that's going to play into the willingness and ability of people to continue, as shery mentioned, going on

this homebuilding, home renovation borrowing trend? is that one of the reasons why the reaction in the stock price has been negative? jack: no. it's just a little fluctuation in our share price during the past couple days. i think we look at, first, we look at the long-term value creation. if you look at the share of price since the beginning of 2019, our share price has gone up by roughly 280%. so our focus is about continuing to create more value in our company by delivering growth above market, pick and share of categories of the market we put dissipate in around the world, and translate those into more profitable growth through many factors better and integrating with our customers to deliver great products to the market at the right time.

so that's really the business model we execute from around the world. haidi: jack truong joining us from chicago. appreciate your time. taking a look at the day ahead now, the u.k. said most elements of a trade deal with australia have been agreed upon. there are tens talks to hammer out the last details. also watching westpac may numbers due out later. the latest gauge on the recovery of the aussie consumer. in new zealand, the government set to released first quarter pci numbers in the coming minutes. next, south korean minister of gender and families chung young-ai talks about the debate of women serving in the military and the widening gender pay gap. our exclusive interview is just ahead. this is bloomberg. ♪ this is bloomberg. ♪

haidi: the south korean gender equality minister says debate over whether women should have to carry out military services, inflaming gender visions, is not helping them. last month a presidential candidate from the government's party set up -- set off a social media storm by saying women should have to serve. she addressed those claims and discuss south korea's wider efforts to improve living standards for women.

chung: the debate on women serving in the military did not come from trying to achieve under equality, but from voices that are asking women to experience the same disadvantages amended, so the -- the same disadvantages men did. the way we see it, our youth does go through hardship by going through the ability. this includes giving due credit to those who have finished service. this should not justify discriminating those who did not serve in the military, such as women or people with disabilities. after the election results, the debate has been driven by gender and lots of distorted analysis has made the conflict worse. opinions are reflected on all fronts, but comments that incite hate and conflict should not be the way to go. >> coronavirus has exposed so many problems of south korea,

including gender inequality. in particular there have been studies the pandemic widened the gender income disparities of the country. why do you think that happened? chung: since the coronavirus pandemic, the employment rate of women has decreased significantly compared to men. many women are employed in service sectors where face-to-face contact is essential, directly affected by coronavirus. we should also expand our job-training programs for the women were forced to discontinue their careers after pregnancy or childcare. we are making a fundamental effort to deal with this problem. >> south korea has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. how do you plan to tackle this problem? chung: the low birth rate is one of the most serious social problems in south korea. since our fertility rate reached 1.3 a a few years ago, we prepared policy measures bracing for a longer decline. it has fallen even more since then. it is now 0.8.

i think the low birthrate should be tackled with a gender equality platform. there are various issues young people of south korea must deal with if they are to have a child, such as housing, childcare and safety. the cost is just too high. when it comes to south korea's low fertility rate, there's quite a diverse pool of feedback from experts in all sorts of fields. financials are factors to consider, but it's a reality that women are the ones getting the burden, having their careers cut short. we live in a society where expectations for women in childcare are far greater, which is why we need to change our societal culture and regulations in organizations so both men and women are equally responsible for childcare. the birthrate will only increase when we reach real gender equality in our society. shery: south korea's minister for gender equality and families, chung young-ai. let's get more from these issues

from bloomberg. the minister talks about debate over women serving in south korea's military. what does this say am of the gender power dynamic, and what role does the military play in it? >> so, the south korean military is actually at the core of south korea's gender conflict. it is mostly because due to women not serving in the military, women are mostly considered second-class citizens, as if they are not doing enough of the country. so this justifies also a big pay gap between men and women and south korea. and in order for men, the angry millennial man that used to be moon supporters and are no longer moon supporters as it was shown in the april election, president of candidates are now proposing that women also have to serve in the military as well in order to narrow the gap. but a lot of critics to this proposal say this does not really solve the crux of the

issue that has justified a lot of systemic mythology -- systemic misogyny industry nation against women. it worsens the problem and said. haidi: we have also seen the pandemic worsen the situation for women in south korea. jihye: it has. predominantly for work from home situations. it's highlighted the inequality between men and women when it comes to childcare, when it comes to household situations, and statistics from bank of korea, the reports have clearly shown that not only was it resulting in employment differences but also women that already did have jobs, women that had children to take care of chose to leave their currently existing jobs during covid because of the highlighted inequality and roles within the household chores. this also goes to show how south korean women, younger women, are

more and more choosing to not marry and choosing to not have children, because they see this inequality within their own households from their own mothers. so it is their own form of protest to not even mary, not even date and have children as well. shery: no wonder the low birthrate. a huge issue in south korea. what is the government doing? jihye: actually the way the government is responding highlights how the government, in a way a a lot of critics say the government does not get it. their proposal is to pay million -- pay women 2 million yuan for each baby and pay men to take paternity leave, because they need the incentive. so women and south korea are saying that this policy doesn't really solve the bigger issue at hand, which is a lack of feminism and lack of social awareness about equality within the south korean society. haidi: jihye lee there.

much more to come on daybreak. this is bloomberg. ♪ this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: we are getting the latest inflation gauge out of new zealand at the moment. this is what we are seeing when it comes to imports, quarter on

quarter, first quarter number at 2.1%. that's a jump from a flat reading in the previous quarter. output quarter on quarter, 1.2%, also a jump from .4% in the last quarter of the last year. so we're as with the rest of the world, seeing these continued inflationary pressures. shery: with the ongoing pandemic, there's a key question these days. are twenty-year office leases and traditional headquarters a thing of the past? wework certainly thinks so. its executive chairman told bloomberg that the traditional office is dead. >> companies are not looking forward to going back to a traditional way of signing a 20 year lease. that's dead. the office is very different today. most of our larger customers are the world's most valuable

companies were sending us their employees because they don't know how many days they are going to be working because they do not know when their business is going to grow. when you are the only company in the world was over 1000 buildings in the most important cities in the world, the demand for wework space today is higher than it was prior to the pandemic. so the pandemic allowed wework to reinvent itself, to learn how to operate in a most cost flexible basis, and now you have a wework, like i said before, we work should be a profitable company by the end of this year or by the beginning of next year at the latest. and demand for this type of flexible office space is higher than ever and i think the world is going to redefine in terms of where flexibility becomes the most important part a company can offer employees. >> i have to go with the crypto wash and. we last announced it would be accepting payment in the form of

cryptocurrencies. it said it would hold some on its balance sheet. today we saw elon musk say tesla would no louder be taking bitcoin over concerns about the impact it has on the environment, the environmental impact of mining bitcoin has gonna significantly -- has gone up significantly. is that something we are to see wework follow, or is that reaction to a short-term trend? >> the reason why we decided to accept cryptocurrencies was because customers were asking for it. one of the things we do is we listen to our customers a lot. they tell us the type of setups they want. the crypto came up a lot. employers say we would like to pay you crypto, we would like to pay for rent. so we decided to basically accept crypto.

at the same time as people pay us in crypto, to us, it's another currency. we have dollars, euros, pounds, crypto, japanese yen. to us it makes no difference. we have had some customers pay us in crypto, and some who say i would like you to pay me in crypto. we look at it as we look at what our customers want and if they demand to pay in crypto, that is what we will do. haidi: we work as it could have chairman there speaking to bloomberg. coming up, taking a look at fixed income fx markets as well as that rally in gold and other precious metals. that's it for "daybreak australia."

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>> good morning. i am haidi stroud-watts. shery: welcome to daybreak asia. our top stories. asian stocks tracking declines, after inflation worries and another day of losses on wall street. gold and silver hit their highest level in three months. haidi: president biden