haidi: a very good morning and welcome to "daybreak australia." sophie: we are counting down to asia's major market open. kathleen: the nasdaq hits a record with tech stocks back in favor. the inflation trade goes into retreat. asia looks set to follow the

rally in the u.s. haidi: the weiss -- the white house plans talks between president biden and xi jinping as pressure is stepped up on chinese tech companies. kathleen: australia raises the recommended age for the astrazeneca vaccine. it could slow the nation's already tardy vaccine rollout. let's get to wall street. what a day. s&p 500 closed barely changed. still wondering how this announcement from the fed will affect things. the text fear got a huge rally. the nasdaq hitting another new high, up nearly 1%. led by nvidia, apple, microsoft. people saying value is out, growth is back. interesting how that affected the bond market. 30 year bond yield, down to 2.09%. it's the lowest level since last march. this is really quite a move. what is happening here? well, people figure if you are

an inflation fighting fed, that is good for the long and. the yield curve continues to flatten. the dollar down, heading for its best rally since march. haidi: let's take a look at how we are setting up for this final friday trading session here in asia. sophie: this friday looking at a cautious start, with asian features slightly higher. we are seeing stocks open a little change after asian equities have the biggest drop in a month since thursday. from the peak we hit in february. thursday selloff was led by industrials and materials as investors rotated into the outlook for higher rates with reflation rates fizzling out. ubs slowly reducing the overweight cyclicals and adding to quality and growth. switching out the chart, commodities has been on the retreat. gold and soybean futures have wiped out 2021 gains. copper set for the worst week since march 2020.

it has been a volatile rally. iron ore prices, 30 days at the highest since 2016. as a td securities strategy put it, industrial metals continue to melt as demand the theory rates and we see speculators step off the pedal. we're still seeing oil hold onto his gains for the year. unevenness amid the recovery. haidi: we are watching the story coming out of tokyo. olympic organizers in japan are set to cap spectators at a number of 10,000 according to reporting. at the moment, this would not be unexpected because the government's decision earlier on to limit the number of fans for sporting events more broadly is that 10,000 people per venue. we will be waiting for confirmation of that. but of course there have been numerous calls for the olympics to go forward without any domestic spectators. and lots of calls for the event to be canceled overall.

but we are counting down to the olympics, and we are also expecting that state of emergency that has been extended now three times in tokyo, to be lifted june 20. really just in time, as we get closer and closer to the big event. kathleen: after the fed decision, we have seen quite a shift in stocks. out of value into growth. there has been big moves in the nasdaq, to record highs as investors rotated from cyclical stocks. we are joined by david mazza, head of products for direction. quite a day. are you happy to see this? i think this was sort of how you were already positioned, and the fed did you a favor. david: certainly one day does not make a trend, but to your point, after a relatively hawkish tone yesterday, particularly in the comments chairman powell made after the statement was released, markets really reversed course. i think what we are seeing here is an interpretation that

economic growth is improving, and inflation is accelerating. historically, both of those are actually positive for areas like the nasdaq, tech stocks, and even small-cap, although small-cap wasn't underperformer today. so yes, once we peel back the onion a bit of the data, all of this is generally positive for the economy. kathleen: what could derail this? would it be weaker than expected economic data in a fed that maybe will not move so quickly? david: there usually two things that derail recent rotation. one is certainly the potential for rifts. geopolitical riffs are still high. we know president biden is still planning to meet and have more foreign trips to make sure that does not occur. but still is a policy mistake. both from the federal reserve and even in washington, we actually gridlock has been good for the markets a bit. if we see movement one way or another on infrastructure on the

domestic side, that might change the perspective. but for the time being maybe inflation or's are saying maybe these reflationary trades got ahead of themselves. haidi: what are the disruptive trends investable at the moment? are we taking a new look at green energy and renewables? david: when you think about green energy, what a winner in 2020, but a loser in 2021, up until the last few weeks. today, if you look at clean energy stocks versus traditional energy, up over 9%. that's an area that has been broadly out-of-favor but it is now doing well. because investors really were too focused on just as binary idea of growth versus value or cyclical versus defensive. because it has been such a macro-driven environment. but now we are getting into an area where people can pick their spots and think about what disruption will actually be here, especially if uncertainty is on the table for 2023, but that is still years out. we still have an environment

probably accommodative and all these destructive themes can be held ahead with a greater policy push behind them. haidi: in the meantime, even as you see commodities off their peak, are there opportunities to be seen in reflationary commodity stock place? david: i would say certainly the idea inflation will be higher, one, is consistent with my expectation. it would be exuberant to look at the data and say all that is transitory. there will certainly not be used car prices up 10%, years into the future. what is interesting here is because there is such a relationship with commodity producing equities and commodities themselves, there may be an emerging opportunity on the commodity equity side as opposed to commodities themselves. again, today's performance was quite a negative one. if people were looking at the space and saying, wow, these stocks have gone up significantly, today may be an entry point to diversify away

from other areas. kathleen: a lot of stock investors are worried the 30 year bond, the 10-year note, although yields might start rising. now we see this big, crazy rally in the 30 year bond. is that a plus for a stockmarket goal? -- bull? david: we have become so concerned. interest rates and the dollar were the main driver of everything. it's bleeding into the equity market. there was such concern so-called growth stocks were going to underperform if we saw a rates move up from 1.5% to 1.75% to 2%. we know there is some anchoring here on the long end with a lot of the buying. net is a positive for the growth area, but i will note is index rebalances, there is a lot happening in the equity market, in the u.s. equity market, around the globe, and as well that investors should be cognizant of. but bond yields have been the

driver. if we see a flattening yield curve, for the time being that will be an area supporting disruptive tech risk of financials. haidi: you can get more on the markets and other stories you need to know for your day. bloomberg's discovers can go to dayb on the terminals. it is all right on the bloomberg anywhere app. let's get over to vonnie quinn now with the first word headlines. vonnie: president biden has signed a bill making juneteenth a federal holiday. it marks the end of slavery in the u.s. most government employees will be granted paid leave friday. juneteenth commemorates june 19, 1865, when -- two months after the confederacy surrendered. >> i'm especially pleased that we showed the nation we came

together as democrats and republicans to come are -- to commemorate this day with overwhelmingly bipartisan support of congress. i hope this is the beginning of a change in the way we deal with one another. vonnie: the u.k. is considering plans to open up international travel for inoculated passengers, even as a surge of the highly transmissible delta variant. people who have received both doses of a coronavirus vaccine would not need to quarantine on arrival from medium risk countries. the u.k. recorded more than 11,000 infections thursday, the most since mid-february. japan will ends it -- will end its state of emergency as planned june 20, about one month before the liv-ex. the prime minister says they will maintain sophist -- focused research and's on seven regions through july. as mentioned, we're now hearing from olympic organizers,

planning to set a cap of 10,000 spectators at the games that began july 23. -- begin july 23. 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. kathleen: still ahead, more on the outlook for global central banks and risks in china with a cornell university professor. and u.s. regulators stepping up pressure on chinese tech suppliers over alleged security risks. the sec seeks to ban products from the likes of huawei. more details next. this is bloomberg. ♪ bloomberg. ♪

haidi: president biden's diplomatic tour may take him

to the east next for a dialogue with xi jinping. talks between them will be planned soon. that news comes as u.s. regulators propose a ban on chinese surveillance cameras and other products linked to oppression in china. we do have breaking news now just crossing the bloomberg. according to a reuters report, the chinese apps could face subpoenas and bans under the biden executive order, aimed at safeguarding american sensitive data. it could cause some chinese apps to take tougher measures when it comes to data privacy if they want to remain any chinese -- in the u.s. market. that is according to people familiar with the matter. the goal is to keep adversaries like china and russia from gaining access to this kind of information. the commerce department could issue subpoenas to collect information about certain smartphone, pc, and tablet software applications, then potentially negotiate for the conditions for their use. ok. let's get more context now from

our government reporter emily wilkins. this replaces the blanket ban we had from the previous president, donald trump, against apps like wechat. in what ways does it differ and what are the implications we are potentially looking at here? emily: until we find out more, it sounds like they are looking at the blanket ban, a little more specific on the apps, what their relation is. you had this big thing where donald trump was trying to challenge the ability for tiktok to be available in the u.s.. a hyper popular app. it wound up coming to the point where there is a debate on what should happen. tiktok is obviously still available in the u.s. they came to an agreement on that. i think you will see the biden administration really try and think about what the parameters will be. as we saw today with the sec, they had bans on five specific

chinese electronic companies including huawei, and the idea there was they were all linked to opposition in western china, and they had the risk of western espionage. kathleen: biden met with xi reportedly over the years, talked about him as a friend. but lately, on the campaign trail last year he called xi a thug who doesn't have a democratic bone in his body. this does not seem like much of a shift from donald trump. emily: look, we have been talking a ton about russia the past week, as we should, because biden met with putin, but biden's number one priority is very much china. and this is some way where you see a lot of overlap between the trump administration and the biden administration is on ch ina. china is one of the very few

bipartisan things that is actually getting legislation through and getting bipartisan compromise in washington right now. this is something the parties are very united on, on trying to make sure the u.s. remains strong, even as china continues to rise as a global economic power. we don't have too many details about the first time biden and xi will sit down as presidents of their respective countries. don't know the date or the format. with the goal, according to national security advisor jake sullivan, is to take stock where the u.s.-china relationship stands. compared it to the goal of when biden sat down with putin. the difference is china is really the main focus of the administration here. kathleen: thank you so much. emily wilkins in washington covering this breaking news. meanwhile, chinese president xi jinping is tapping a top deputy to help the mystic chip makers -- help domestic chipmakers. xi's economics armor will

oversee china's third-generation chipmaking push. the involvement of one of his most trusted lieutenants highlights the importance. as other powerhouses raise to shore up their own industries. coming up, australia's already slow vaccine rollout hits another speed bump as officials narrow the age range for astrazeneca doses. more on that story shortly. this is bloomberg. ♪ this is bloomberg. ♪

kathleen: back to the news we got earlier, olympic organizers may be setting a cap at 10,000 fans. it comes as japan is setting to end its state of emergency.

stephen engle has been tracking this. steve, some big steps, but so far, so good. looks like we are going to get some olympics in tokyo. stephen: we might get it after all. of course the olympics have been delayed a year. they start july 23. we have a bit of time. and the vaccination effort for the elderly in japan has begun and will continue in earnest for some time. there is still broad support for canceling of the game among the japanese public, but still, the organizers and the ioc and others still want to go ahead with the games. the big question is if there will be spectators in the fans. we already know most foreigners not be able to get into japan. they will not get the tourism boom there originally hoped, for what will be a pretty expensive games. we are hearing from a newspaper that the organizers of the japan olympics as well as the ioc and other parties, including sponsors, have been negotiating. they are talking about setting a

cap of 10,000 spectators prevent. again, different events would have different sizes of venues. but a final cap is said to be decided by june 21. the newspaper goes on to say that the state of emergency, if it's re-declared during the games, they would then reconsider to have no spectators. but again, it looks as though the games will go ahead with or without spectators. sponsors would not be included in that cap on the number of spectators. this comes, as you rightfully said, the prime minister has announced an end of the state of emergency for tokyo, osaka, and other areas on june 20, this sunday. that is as planned. that would give them about one month before the start of the olympics to prepare for the olympics without a state of emergency. keep in mind, this state of

emergency has really hammered economic momentum and growth because it has covered regions of japan, including tokyo, and osaka, and others, that cover about half of japan's economic output. so there have been concerns the state of emergency is have hurt the japanese economy. infections are falling. 1027 new infections on tokyo april 29, that has fallen to a seven-day average of 386 new cases as of yesterday. those vaccinations are working, but it is slow. haidi: steve, what is it like where you are? stephen: hong kong, boy. it has one of the lowest rates of infections, it has been zero for a number of days in a row. the number of zero cases of local, traceable, has been in place for quite some time. yet still, hong kong has some of the strictest hotel quarantine

restrictions in the world. and we are hearing from sources the hong kong government has now, after hearing all kinds of complaints from business communities, from society as a whole, that the restrictions are too strict -- this is not public yet -- but they have agreed to relax or shorten the hotel quarantine for fully vaccinated travelers to just seven days. currently it is as high as 21 days for most places. again, you would have to have an antibody test at the airport. they are still trialing those tests. again, those travelers from high-risk areas that include the u.s., the u.k., japan, india, would not be included, according to these sources. haidi: stephen engle there out of hong kong. there is more a people for australia's covid vaccine rollout after new advice recommending the astrazeneca vaccine only be given to people over 60.

yesterday it had been recommended to over 50. now, the low risk of blood clotting has led to that change in advice. paul allen joins us with more. adding to an already slow and uneven rollout, now there is just confusion. paul: confusion sums it up well. there has been a surge of people reported in local media between 50 and 60 who had their first shot of astrazeneca and are now canceling their second one in the hope of getting pfizer. one clinic has seen 20% of its patients declining appointments for a second shot. that is despite there being cases of community transmission in that part of town. what has happened is the advice from the australian technical advisory group on immunization has changed after data that showed out of 12 cases of this rare blood clotting that occurs with the astrazeneca vaccine sometimes, seven of those cases were in the 50 to 59 age group,

including one death of a 52-year-old woman. pfizer is now available for 40 to 59. the health minister spoke about this yesterday. >> for those who are in the 50 to 59 group, it is a change, and we recognize that that does bring some challenges. they will now have access to pfizer. we ask for their patience. while these general practices are rolled out. paul: the government very much pitching these things. we are nimble enough to roll with the changes. kathleen: i did not realize you can mix vaccines like that. what is the advice now if you have had one shot of astrazeneca but not the second? paul: that is the thing, you can't actually mix vaccines. this is one of the concerns, that the people who have had one jab might be holding out for a second jab to be pfizer. these chief -- the chief medical

officer says there is no data on the efficacy or safety of mixing the vaccines. there is also concerned there will be an oversupply of astrazeneca and a shortage of pfizer. so all sorts of problems created by this change in advice. the rollout in australia had already been very slow, and there are some concerns this could slow it down even more and re--- and delay the reopening of borders. haidi: let's get you a quick check of the headlines. hsbc has named two co-heads to lead their capital financing and investment banking arm, according to a company memo. the bank is moving several top executives to asia as it tries to boost revenue. bank of america says it's bringing all vaccinated workers back to the office. the ceo said the plan is to have all employees who had their shots return after labor day. he revealed more than 70,000 bank of america employees

voluntarily reported that they had been vaccinated. coming up next, the brutal truth. discussing cryptocurrency in the future of money with eswar prasad. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ (announcer) back pain hurts, and it's frustrating. you can spend thousands on drugs, doctors, devices, and mattresses, and still not get relief. now there's aerotrainer by golo, the ergonomically correct exercise breakthrough that cradles your body so you can stretch and strengthen your core, relieve back pain, and tone your entire body. since i've been using the aerotrainer, my back pain is gone. when you're stretching your lower back on there, there is no better feeling. (announcer) do pelvic tilts for perfect abs and to strengthen your back. do planks for maximum core and total body conditioning. (woman) aerotrainer makes me want to work out. look at me, it works 100%. (announcer) think it'll break on you? think again! even a jeep can't burst it.

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>> people see prices going up. authorities are not saying you have to watch out. i think that this is a nasty combination. >> you are watching "daybreak australia." u.s. regulators are proposing a ban on some chinese electronic products because of security risks. the fcc order coverage products from huawei and surveillance cameras linked to alleged oppression in western china. in separate statements, the company denied claims they threaten u.s. national security. the deal hangs in the balance.

the presidential election is expected to see a hard-line conservative to replace rouhani and that could complicate efforts restore a landmark nuclear accord that has major implications for middle east security and oil markets. the u.s. supreme court rejected the latest republican attempts to invalidate the affordable care act. the ruling marks the third time they have backed the so-called obamacare law. president biden says the ruling was a big win. it is said to be under investigation by hong kong's securities regulator over allegations it misled investors. the allegations stem from the role as the bond underwriter for china energy, a conglomerate which went bankrupt in 2018. on the buyers say they misled investors and sales -- a deal with energy to disadvantage creditors.

hong kong is said to have approved a plan to ease quarantine measures. for fully vaccinated travelers as long as they pass an antibody test. sources say passengers from high-risk occasions will not be included in the land and there has been no decision on when the policy takes effect. hong kong this the u.s., u.k., and japan as among high-risk countries. 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 am vonnie quinn. this is bloomberg. kathleen: thank you so much. a look at markets today. interesting moves in u.s. stocks. let's bring in andrea. what should we expect from the boj? safe to say nothing like what we heard from the fed? andrea: that's right. it is in stark contrast to a much more optimistic time.

they are expected to keep the main stimulus measures in place. a majority of analysts expect the boj to tinker at the edges of its toolkit. it is extending the covid lending measures beyond the current experian september and it is expected to seek negative interest rates and asset purchases and governor kuroda is seen as reinforcing a dovish message at his press conference which will be in stark contrast to a hawkish jay powell. it's not surprising. japan's economy remains vulnerable, unlike the u.s. and china, which have seen robust recoveries. it had a very slow vaccine drive , which has seen a series of emergency declarations to

contain this virus flareup, and that has hampered economic growth in japan. haidi: in the meantime, aussie stocks sapping four days of gains on thursday but they are looking pretty positive. andreea: that's right. not surprising that aussie stocks had a bit of a pullback. it is a top performing developed market in the asia-pacific this year. in part two rallies for sensitive stocks like banks and miners. they make up basically half of the benchmark. we have had alter easy monetary policy, billions of dollars in fiscal stimulus, and those two things have provided tailwinds. we have had a steady handling of the covid outbreak. as well as ample stimulus. there's also been heightened global demand for materials like iron ore, which has boosted the

recovery and boosted some of those miners. of course, there are some headwinds, trade conflict with china. there is the potential for higher interest rates as the economy is coming out of the pandemic at a much faster pace. there is already talk that the rba could dismantle qe as early as next month but overall, positive outlook for the stock. haidi: cross-asset editor andreea papuc in sydney. more federal reserve officials signal they are ready to think about scaling back their program of bond purchases. the question is whether that can happen without sparking a repeat of the taper tantrum. let's get to analysis from the senior professor at cornell university. always great to have you with those on bloomberg. there has obviously been lessons learned. asian central banks really beefing up their war chest in anticipation. is it going to be smooth sailing this time around? >> so far, looks like a taper

tantrum. i think it is likely to be the case for a variety of reasons. the fed i think is making clear that it is signaling it is going to start reducing monetary stimulus in a couple of years. that is a long way away still. it's very important that the fed is signaling to market that if they believe the inflation hike does not prove to be transitory, it is ready to act so i think this is a good move to call markets and -- calm markets and the emerging markets have taken it while so far. it is a positive move in the sense that we have currencies that look somewhat stronger than you might anticipate based on where those economies short-term growth trajectories were. the indian repeat, the chinese yuan fall by 1% or so, i think not a big move for those currencies and even a country

like india that used to be very vulnerable to such moves by the fed because of its current account deficit is in a much better place at least on the external fun although of course the domestic front is an entirely different story. kathleen: the yuan fell the most in four months the pboc does not like volatility in either direction. is it something they need to be concerned about? are we back to concerns about capital wealth flows? eswar: if pboc wants to send a very clear message to market it is -- relatively freely. this does not count as a drastic move. in fact, the pboc was getting a little concerned about the extent of appreciation that had taken place in the yuan in the last few weeks, especially given science that are emerging that the growth momentum in the chinese economy will be slowing down. they are probably looking at the slight depreciation with a bit

of relief and china has not had any significant issues with capital outflows. inflows have been strong into china and many emerging markets as well. it comes as a bit of a breather rather than a problem. kathleen: what do you think is the biggest risk to this global economic central-bank policy scenario? eswar: the fact that inflation is likely to be transitory certainly gives central banks some room to wait. but there is a risk that with the disruption and supply chains that we have seen enormous pressures that are building up on the supply side because of disruptions in a variety of fronts. you could have inflations becoming somewhat more persistent and then the big concern for central banks is whether they can manage inflation expectations because it is fine for them to say that

inflation is transitory and regulatory. i believe that is the case. if consumers and businesses start leaving and higher inflationary expectations, that can quickly become much harder to control, in which case, many central banks would be in a difficult position of having to tighten monetary policy at a time when the recovery is far from stable and durable. kathleen: you have a book coming out. how the digital revolution is transforming currencies and finance and it brings up these questions about bitcoin. when you talk about inflation, a lot of people say these cryptocurrencies are going to be a hedge against these very excessive moves by central banks. eswar: that seems to be the hope that i think there is no real substantive basis behind it. if you look at bitcoin, the reason it had a lot of value, it was supposed to provide a somewhat anonymous medium of exchange.

it has proven to be quite a failure at that. it is a slow and cumbersome, inefficient medium of exchange, so by and large, people are holding onto it as a regular asset rather than for any transaction purposes. for an asset that is purely digital, that has no intrinsic value, to be seen as a real hedge against inflation, especially for fiat currencies, it is hard for me to believe that that is going to be viable. certainly, it has not been a bad bet. naive investors join at the end of the party and it could get pretty badly burned if we do see some reality returning to the cryptocurrency market. kathleen: thank you so much, eswar prasad, senior professor at cornell university. bank of america told bloomberg that it's customers are struggling with a tightening labor market. the ceo, brian moynihan, discussed whether the banks use inflation as transitory. >> central banks are going to

struggle because at the end of the day, it is the determiner here. think about what they went through. think about the u.k. delaying the full reopening because of the variants. you think about the u.s. vaccines through half the population, and it is pretty open. pay attention to the vaccine path. the second question was the dots, dot plot. there's great debate about whether these add value. leaving that debate aside, the fence economic projections this year, 7%. 7% matches the fed. it's a great team. they are at five. if you believe the street and bank of america are more right, the reality is the economy is growing much faster than it was with much more fiscal stimulus to be spent in the customer's account and much more

opportunity for the economy to grow and that is something people should pay attention to. this year's rate of growth was half of what it turned out to be, what it is predicted to be. those dot plots will become uninteresting because things will be moving faster. think about 2019. same side, same chair, somewhat different people, same research department. they were sitting there in mid 2013, 2% 10 year treasury rate, economic projected forward growth was 2%. unemployment in the series. think about that where we are now. three times the growth rate projected. next year, two times the growth rate projected. the fed unemployment rate projection in the low threes by the end of 2023, high threes by next year, metaphors this year. -- made fours -- mid-fours this year. >> remarkable story. the bounceback to the economy

and the growth what about inflation? they have taken up the projection on pce deflators. what are you seeing? you have your tentacles in so many small businesses, more than anybody else. are your customers feeling real pressure from price increases? brian: yes, great debate. what is temporary, what is transitory? sfp. these terms are used to signal what they think. the firm belief by the fed is that most of this is transitory. the question is what about the stickier things? you are seeing that come back as unemployment rates come down and you are seeing the pickup -- we will see what the new claims are this morning but you are seeing the employment market tighten. if you ask our customers, last fall, their number one issue,

pandemic, pandemic, pandemic. this spring, getting people to work and supply chains and that is a whole different place. inflation characteristics are out there to be killed. there will be a great debate about that but it comes down to what you think next year's projection for economic growth is and what you see leading into that as to whether the stickier parts of this will happen. they still have 70% of stimulus in those accounts. the average balance for people, 2000 to $5,000, up three times, sitting there, ready to be spent. you are seeing their spending grow at 20% year-to-date through june 14 the normal year, 20% growth. that is very strong so it is all set up. if inflation could happen, that would be the great debate. we have to get into the question of what is transitory. >> brian moynihan speaking to

bloomberg's david westin and be sure to tune into bloomberg radio to hear more from the days big newsmakers, get in-depth analysis from the daybreak team here we are broadcasting from our studio in hong kong and you can listen in via the app. radio plus or bloombergradio.com. lots more ahead. this is bloomberg. ♪

haidi: you are watching "daybreak australia." time for morning kospi had i want to focus on commodities. as you can see on the terminal, they are the biggest laggard so far in june, down 4% as we are seeing the dollar firm up. this as we are seeing the post fed rotation that is favoring tech. going forward, cyclicals may see more losses. pulling up the board at ubs, strategists reducing their overweight on cyclicals while adding to quality and growth on that potential reversal of the benign combo of lower yield rates and higher breakevens. a challenging fourth-quarter ahead for global equities with earnings momentum likely to peak this quarter. haidi. haidi: let's get more on china's consumption trends in focus today as the shopping festival

kicks off. online platforms such as jd.com launched promotions as early as last week to try and stoke purchases. let's cross to beijing with tom mackenzie, who is underground at the jd.com headquarters. what are you going to be watching out for? tom: they love a shopping festival in communist china. it is the second largest shopping festival. the founding of the communist party of china. on july 1. this is what we are talking about today, the second largest shopping in china. we are at the headquarters, north beijing, in their big data center where they have been mapping out some of the trends we have been seeing. it started on june 1 and will wrap up at midnight tonight, june 18. for comparison last year, they saw transactions of about 42 billion u.s. dollars and that was up about 34%, during a pandemic year.

this year, they are expecting to beat that number again and on the first day, transactions were up 140% year on year and we will be looking to see what effect things like livestreaming is having on the consumer demand here and that is something that jd is focused on. international brands be it i see behind me that apple dominates four of the top five spots in countries including the u.s., u.k., singapore, japan, and south korea, near the top of the list in terms of international brands but this is all at a time of increased competition. the video streaming companies as well pushing into this space. it is becoming harder and costlier to carve out some of that consumer spend so we will be looking at all of that as we head towards the end of this big shopping extravaganza here. kathleen: how do we square this big shopping extravaganza with the kind of numbers you just

mentioned and retail sales that still fall short, tom? tom: that is a very good question, kathleen. online and e-commerce is one distinct part of the retail sector and has been growing at a faster clip. according to the executives we have been speaking to, than the offline part of the retail picture but you are right to point out that overall, we are not back to pre-pandemic levels of consumption. it is that pillar of growth that has not kept back into full gear, something that economists are befuddled about. the numbers have started to improve in china but the sentiment amongst consumers is still not as bullish as it was prior to the pandemic and we have had something of vacation eighth recovery. we saw the retail data earlier this week and we saw that there was very strong demand for higher value good jewelry, which was not more than 30% but some of the more basic items are still looking pretty weak in terms of that demand so we will

see how that plays out today in terms of the online base and there is also an outbreak of covid-19 in a major province in china and that has dented to some demand according to some economists. this is key for china's future economic recovery is when the consumer is going to kick back into full gear. kathleen: tom mackenzie, thank you so much, at jd.com headquarters in beijing. more news on juneteenth in the u.s. it's the exciting new holiday that congress just passed. the federal reserve board was apparently going back and forth on what they would do and they are going to be closed friday for juneteenth and the supreme court is also closing for the holiday. 160 -- 100 56 years after the emancipation proclamation. this is a new holiday. you can see joe biden signing

it. a very exciting new event for the u.s. this is bloomberg. ♪

kathleen: president biden has signed the juneteenth holiday into law. joining us now is congress

reporter gerald dillard. give us the details and the importance of this. gerald: thank you for having me. this bill has been introduced in congress every year since 2011 and this year, they got it passed. it was passed by unanimous consent in the senate on tuesday and in the house yesterday. it passed on a vote of 415-14 and it was signed into law by president biden today to commemorate the end of slavery in the united states and june 19 is on this saturday. haidi: we have 14 house republicans voting against the bill. what was the rationale? >> there were a couple of different arguments. one of the arguments from republican house members was that -- was about how quickly the bill moved through congress,

like i said. the senate took it up on tuesday, passing it by unanimous consent and the house ticket it to the floor on wednesday so there was a little bit of debate on whether there was enough time to figure out the ramifications of the bill and how costly giving federal employees and other paid holiday off would be. haidi: i have seen the social media reaction and a lot of it seems to be fairly critical, saying it is very nice we are marking this for the holiday and it is more symbolic than substantial of and we need to see police reform, voting reform to ensure that black folks can actually get to the polls. is there is some criticism here? jarrell: there is a bit of criticism. those bills which have been passed by the house, such as the voting rights bill, police reform, those are being held up in the senate right now due to the filibuster with the filibuster -- you need 60 votes

to get legislation passed and that is being held up due to the 50/50 split. republicans are not going for the police reform bill for the voting rights bill so that is kind of where those are stock right now. haidi: jarrell dillard that. let's get you a quick check of the latest business flash headlines. a chinese ride-hailing app is said to have added a slew of chinese banks. our source tells us the bank of china, china construction bank, and four others have been appointed joint book runners. reuters reported china's antitrust regulator has begun an investigation for possible anticompetitive practices. a chinese bubble tea came is aiming to raise as much as 660 $6 million in a hong kong i go and it is offering more than 250 million shares at 19 hong kong dollars apiece. the company expects to set its

final price on june 23. shares are set to start trading at the end of the month. that is it for "daybreak australia." "daybreak asia" is next. this is bloomberg. ♪

>> hello and welcome to "daybreak asia." i am haidi stroud-watts in sydney. sophie: i am sophie kamaruddin in hong kong. kathleen: good evening from bloomberg's world headquarters in new york. i am kathleen hays. asian stocks set for gains after the nasdaq hit a record with tech stocks back in favor. the trade goingre