♪ >> welcome to "bloomberg daybreak: asia." >> good evening shery ahn. asian investors start the week with a slow down and chinese experts grow ahead of inflation data later. >> alibaba says it is firing a

manager accused of sexual assault. the ceo, saying the company must rebuild its actions and thinking. >> the u.s. infrastructure debate hits the slowly with lawmakers unable to agree on which amendment to consider. >> let's take a look at the start of trading here in asia. what are you watching? >> we are seeing stocks mixed. without the bound rally take a breather -- bond rallies take a breather. a better than expected jobs report. goldman noting it may take longer for u.s. yields to rise. they've cut their year and forecast for the u.s. 10 year yield to 160 from 190. the 10, back above 122 this morning. we are seeing w a check extended

decline below 67 bucks a barrel this morning. the worst week since october with adult to spread clouding the demand short-term outlook. ahead of inflation data, pulling up the chart on the terminal, a lot of focus on chinese bonds. we have seen china bonds rally for eight straight weeks. we could see a pausing producer prices, higher than expected. we have seen several strategists maintaining their bullish calls for chinese bonds. calling them a safe bet among the uncertainty on the mainland. the pboc easing, also helping chinese bonds maintain their yield premium over u.s. treasury's that we've seen since the end of may last year. >> let's get now the latest on some of the major developments on the chinese tech. stephen engle a hong kong, we have so much to get through. let me get started with alibaba. we have their reaction when it

came to sexual assault allegations. >> that's right. this is an important story. obviously internally for alibaba, but across corporate china as well. there are other cases. some might argue the need to move came a little bit late in china. a celebrity, chris lu, is under investigation for allegations, now this story that emerged over the weekend, and fairly quick action at least, from the employment side, as well as condemnation for the alleged incident coming from the top ranks of alibaba, including the ceo, who put out a statement that was dated this morning and also saying before dawn, so he was up all night crafting this message in deciding to fire this employee, who is accused of sexual misconduct. rape is award they are using.

intoxication and alcohol was involved in the company trip. an alleged rape over a coworker. they fired that employee as well as two other managers of his have resigned, as well as the chief people officer, who which i assume would be the equivalent to the hr head has been given the demerit for bad practices and not following up, necessarily. let me read you a few statements coming from a very lengthy and strongly worded statement from the ceo of alibaba. they didn't take into account the victim's feelings, the managers lack sensitivity and care expected, this indicates a problem in our culture. went on to say, we are staunchly opposed to the ugly drinking culture and that alibaba will expedite the formation of a code of action for anti-sexual

harassment, a policy. keep in mind this action by alibaba this morning comes in isolation to the ongoing police investigation of the allegations of rape. >> we will continue of course following that story. over the coming hours and days. when it comes to bytedance, is there a since this is a company forging ahead with fundraising plans, even as the broader tech crackdown continues? >> absolutely. this is interesting timing. this is a story coming from the financial times that the company bytedance is going to go forward with its plans for a hong kong ipo perhaps as early as next quarter, possibly as well as the early part of 2022. this comes amid the crackdown across tech that includes this big rival show. considerably on media reports, that regulators were

driving traffic at the media sites like tiktok. the equivalent and china of tiktok. these regulations are in addition to the crackdown of online education because bytedance has robo kits, they try to find a new rising star in tech. they are pretty much shutting down applications for english tutoring services or foreign tutoring services as of today. a dual fold crackdown on this sector. the story said they are going to go ahead with a hong kong ipo. however, there's a caveat. china 21st century business news as well as bloomberg news, saying bytedance has denied that report, saying it is inaccurate, from the financial times. >> stephen engle, with the latest on those stories and hong kong. let's get you to vonnie quinn with the first word headlines. >> the chinese city of wuhan

completed masco but testing on more than 11 million people. this after new local cases were reported in the original epicenter of the pandemic. officials say nine positive cases were found. those people have been taken to hospitals. the top infectious disease doctor in the u.s. says he strongly is in favor of spitting up booster shots for people with weakened immune systems. -- speeding up booster shots for people with weakened immune systems. his comments come as the delta variant drives u.s. infectious to more than 100,000 a day. these are levels not seen since the winter surge six months ago. >> we need to look at them in a different light than the durability for a normal person, which means that we will almost certainly be boosting those people, before we boost the

general population that's been vaccinated. and we should be doing that reasonably soon. >> taliban fighters have seized the n a week in afghanistan. it's the latest blow to afghan government forces, as u.s. troops continued there withdrawal. police headquarters and the main prison building where 500 inmates and taliban fighters were free. a woman who filed a criminal complaint against andrew cuomo has spoken publicly for the first time, calling for him to be held accountable. she was formerly identified only as executive assistant number one. she told cbs that what he allegedly did to her was a crime. cuomo denies multiple claims of sexual misconduct. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries.

i'm vonnie quinn. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> still ahead, cryptocurrency becomes the sticking point in the u.s. vote on infrastructure legislation. we will discuss the implications with digital law expert -- with a digital law expert. we will preview a flurry of economic data due this week. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ >> we are expecting inflation numbers after export data over the weekend showed a slow down. our next guest says exports have been a key driver of the asian recovery. they may face risks as advanced economies reopen. let's bring in tuuli mccully. the head of asia-pacific economics at deutsche bank. can asian domestic demand

make up for some of the changes in western demand? >> good morning. well, we are seeing signs that in the region, the economic recovery is being delayed. especially in those countries that are facing another surge in covid-19 cases and restrictions are being used because of low vaccination rates. therefore the export sector will play an important role in supporting the recovery dynamic. now we are seeing advanced economies and the west are reopening. that consumption patterns will be shifting from goods to services, impacting the asian exporters. therefore, domestic demand would need to pick up in the region. and that is where we are seeing signs of delay. consumer confidence in the region is still soft. it will likely only recover

with vaccination rates. spitting of vaccinations would be the best way to get the regional economy -- speeding up vaccinations would be the best we to get the regional economy back on track. >> we are getting those china cpr numbers today. >> so, inflation pressures in asia seem to be mostly supply pressures. we are seeing quite limited signs of demand driven inflation simply because of, weak domestic demand. i think that inflation will have a fairly limited impact, in terms of spill over to the consumer prices, because pricing power is limited because of our soft domestic demand. also, the commodity crisis [indiscernible] related pressures are expected to be transitory. i think firms will -- before

passing them on to consumers. >> china has an impact on the rest of the region and the rest of the world. we are seeing that softness in domestic demand. is there a great deal of vulnerability when it comes to potential logins and shutdowns because they are also being placed by the delta variant? >> for sure. this is something we need to monitor quite carefully. it's not only about domestic demand in china impacted because of a new resurgence of movement, but if it results in a small significant supply-chain issue because of let's say factory closures, that would have a big impact globally as well. china's the engine of economic activity in the region. being part of the regional supply chain. it will definitely have significant impact across the region. china is the most primary

trading partner for most countries in the region. this is something we need to keep an eye on. >> you talk about spitting up vaccination rates being the key to accelerating the recovery. the problem is, we are seeing up to six month highs, highly lax populations around the world still struggling -- vaccinated populations around the world still struggling with the variant. is this going to be the silver bullet after the economic malai se? >> that remains to be seen. think the impact of the delta variant is most visible in the asian countries that have low vaccination rates, and also those happen to be the lower income countries. so i'm seeing there's an increasing divergence between the high income countries and the lower income countries in the region. and it's clear the virus will continue to circulate in the region for a long time, causing

a periodic lockdowns and a bumpy recovery. of course, there is still the risk of an emergence of a more severe variant, which could pose a significant downside risk to the whole regional outlook, but also the global outlook. i'm thinking vaccinations will remain a key thing for quite a long time. >> tuuli mccully, great to have you great to have you with us. or give them a boost to the economy. we took a look at what's next. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ >> well, the curtains have been

drawn for the curtain olympic games. we still have the paralympic games to look forward to in another fortnight, counting down to beijing. it's been really interesting, because we know the government and the prime minister have been counting on public opinion to rise. to really give a popular boost to his popularity, which have been that has been falling. we are seeing a divergence, where the japanese olympic team, the enjoyment of the olympics, the national pride, that all happens, especially given as team japan has come home with a record metal hold -- medal hold, but that has not translated to the pm's popularity. we have to wait for the most recent polls. the most recent one was two days after the opening ceremony. that put his popularity at around 34%. which is the lowest since he took office in september. as you said, it's not really

been great for the prime minister. no spectators, no global leaders attending. we've had at least 100 protesters rallying around the stadium during the closing ceremony as well. >> this is coming months ahead of an expected election. he was really counting on that popularity boost. he's also been coming under fire for the covid management as well. the alibaba chief marketing officer gave us his lessons learned from tokyo. he also told us what the company is hoping to achieve at the beijing winter games. >> tokyo 2020 is an extraordinarily olympic -- extraordinary olympic games. not with a special set up with the audience and everything, but it's also one of the most and a gate of

-- the most innovative games with new technology being applied for the first them. one of the examples is the olympic broadcasting services, obs, for the first time. to many broadcasters, this is perhaps the biggest technology change in half a century, with the less trans mission being in the games in 19 624. we hoped to create a more engaged and connected and efficient olympic teams experience. this is a very special games for us. >> how are these cloud services that alibaba provides through obs cloud, how are they going to be propelled even further in the beijing games in 2022 just a few months from now? >> tokyo 2020 marks the very beginning of our digital transformation journey for the olympic games.

a lot of innovations that will be empowered by alibaba cloud will take place along the way. we do have a clear roadmap of the upcoming games included fresher. >> there's lots of challenges, with covid, the calls for boycotts. -- some of the half of the population of japan did not want to hold the games that are just completed. does this pose a marketing challenge for you? is it really all worth it? what's the cost of the sponsorship? >> alibaba's sponsorship and our commitment to the partnership goes really beyond a traditional marketing sponsorship. we want the world to see the olympic games in a different way not only today but for tomorrow, with the help of alibaba technology. so this is not just putting a logo beside the ring. this is about, how do we utilize

our technology to present a whole new different digital world for the olympic games? >> what's the revenue boost? have gross merchandise value, you have a number you can peg to , what is the tangible impact because of your sponsorship, which i'm sure costs a lot of money? sure you have not revealed how much your tenure partnership, how much you spent on that, but what are you getting back from it, and dollar terms? >> like i said, credibility is priceless. after we released the news that this tokyo games is supported by obs cloud, powered by alibaba cloud, we got so many requests from our clients from all over the world asking about how that works, how their business can benefit from alibaba cloud technology. i do not think there is a very good way to quantify the benefits we are getting. but this is really the growth of

brand power, by associating with the largest event in the world, in a very positively. >> earlier, you talked about the credibility you gained from sponsoring the games. how would you go ahead and market the company at the time when you are also under pressure at home, because of regulators? you guys have been kind of low profile for 10 months. now you all of a sudden have to be high-profile. how do you do that? >> i don't think we raised or lowered our profile for anything. so of course, it's important to comply with all the regulations, for all the markets we are in. so this is something we will make sure we keep doing. the most important thing is dropping the growth. >> controversy surrounding tokyo 2020 could be eclipsed by next year's beijing winter games.

from logistical hurdles, to boycott calls, here's a look at the obstacles facing china in the coming months. >> beijing is promising a successful winter olympics in february. still, a number of hurdles stand in the way. starting with transporting athletes and delegations. officials have yet to share quarantine plans with borders, now marginally sealed off. even for vaccination against covid may not guarantee easier access. -- even full vaccination against covid may not guarantee easier access private international fans could be limited. but beijing may allow home crowds kept at two thirds of a capacity. for other social distancing rules, they will pay close attention to the tokyo playbook. we could again for instance see winners putting metals around their own. infrastructure is where beijing can shine. media says all construction work is on track. but what about the snows? skiing events will be staged in the desert, averaging eight

inches of coverage per year. and china will be relying entirely on artificial f lakes. that is raising environment or concerns. some are calling for a diplomatic boycott of the games. cleared ask -- critics want to change beijing's stances on hong kong and uighur muslims. pressure is being applied to key sponsors, including coca-cola and visa. china says any reginald company will respond with the right judgment -- rational company will respond with the right judgment, particularly those who have benefited. with these games, beijing has a chance to dazzle the world. officials expect to want -- to win five gold medals, another challenge for a country that's we can winter sports. >> this get you a quick check of the business flash headlines. saudi aramco profit rose to $25.5 billion in the second quarter. highest since 2018. cash flow rose to $22.6 billion.

aramco's big earnings boosted recovery and prices. the company says it is positive about the second half. warren buffett took a step back, with his company deployment to the second quarter. he was a net seller of stocks on the third quarter in a row. warner bros.' "suicide squad" led the box office this weekend. new covid cases are cutting into theaters now.

coming up next, we will be discussing the current and future regulations of cryptocurrencies. natasha blycha is the global head of digital legislation practice and she joins us next. this is bloomberg.

this is daybreak: asia. alibaba will fire a manager accused of sexual assault, while two other managers who mishandled the allegation will step down. the co said in a memo seen by bloomberg news that the company must reset and rebuild. alibaba says it has been cooperating with police to investigate a claim by a female employee that her manager and a client sexually assaulted her during a work trip.

the financial times says tiktok owner bytedance is reviving plans to list in hong kong by early next year even as chinese authorities widen their crackdown on technology countries. airport says a listing could take place as soon as next quarter. when contacted by bloomberg news, a bytedance spokesperson said the report was inaccurate. singapore will recalibrate its foreign worker policy to ensure it addresses the economic and social concerns of its citizens. the prime minister says the government is aware of heightened concerns over foreign workers during the pandemic. he says maintaining social harmony takes unremitting work. >> we have to adjust policies to manage the quality, numbers, and concentrations of foreigners in singapore. if we do this well, we can

continue to welcome foreign workers and new immigrants. as we must. reporter: wild -- wildfires raging in greece -- the place began a week ago due to heat wave. it destroyed homes and businesses. thousands of residents and tourists have been forced to flee, some escaping on flotilla's into the night. global news 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. ima a vonnie quinn. this is bloomberg. haidi: let's take a look at how he is setting up for trading. sophie echo >> focusing on precious metals which are extending losses after the u.s. jobs report. gold at $1700 an ounce.

that's the worst week since mid-june. silver prices earlier falling by 7%, sliding to a november low. pulling up the charge -- chart, we are seeing the dollar cash bid which could throw more hurdles for emerging-market currencies. when it comes to the ef outlook, the potential fed tapering may add to the uncertainty and pulling up the board once more, we see commodities and currencies take a hit in face of the dollar. the aussie is up about a third of a percent. treasury futures are continuing to decline, but bond bearers are cautious about causing a bottom in u.s. yields. shery: especially given we do have the president's $550 billion infrastructure package in the home stretch right now, being passed in the senate. it still has a ways to go.

its key proposals are still being debated. you're looking at live pictures of the u.s. senate. we are waiting for the procedural vote in order to end hours of debate. we did have a republican senator blocking the unanimous agreement needed and we continue to wait for the to happen. let's bring in kathleen hays with the latest. it's really showing how a single senator can really hold up these votes. very arcane rules and yet there is still disagreement on key parts of this bill, as well. reporter: most of it has been agreed upon. for example, bill cassidy, the republican senator from tennessee on cnn today said it is probably going to pass. he things maybe as late as tuesday. all the meat and potatoes have been decided. there was one procedural hurdle pass just yesterday on a 67-27

vote. this is a $550 billion bill. a hundred 10 billion for roads and bridges area who cannot agree on the echo -- agree on that? so that part is easy. there are a couple amendments that are tough. one is having new cryptocurrency rules. it would affect taxes. and whether or not states can spend unspent really funds on roads and bridges and things like that. chuck schumer, the majority leader in the senate, said he wants to move it ahead. can't we just get it passed? it will require part -- require republican participation. he says he will put his foot down. and not let it speed through. he wants things hammered out. and he said the democrats true intention is to get this bill

passed through the senate so they can do what they really want to do, which is pass the 3.5 trillion dollar infrastructure spending bill that is more for social infrastructure, childcare, taking care of the elderly. it is still a big debate in congress. that is something i think your republicans are watching very closely because that second bill could be passed on a budget reconciliation measure which means all they need is every democratic senator, one vote from democrat vice president, harris, to get that one through. haidi: so there are dueling cryptocurrency plans. what are the big issues here? reporter: they need to raise more money to pay for this bill. so one of the things some democrats, led by ron white the progressive democrat from oregon, said -- let's be careful. let's make sure we do not tax

crypto companies too heavily. he wants to exempt miners and some other key players. at the white house just came up with a bill that would extend the taxation of minors. and then the full question of whether states or cities could spend up to 30% of unused virus really funds on the kinds of infrastructure they want to spend it on. this is another thing you think would be easy to pass. it is still being mulled over. when it gets to the house, nancy pelosi of course, the speaker, just on friday said they will not consider the bipartisan bill until the senate has also passed the additional 3.5 trillion dollars social infrastructure spending bill. so the senate passage moving forward the next couple days are important. they're a lot more hurdles to get over. haidi: kathleen hays there. let's continue with the

cryptocurrency element. our next guest says the very nature of the industry makes regulation tough. she joins us now from perth. great to have you with us. that is a competition, right? particularly as an outsider, everyone says this is an area that needs to be more heavily regulated. by its very nature, doesn't make it very difficult for lawmakers and policymakers to be able to keep up? guest: absolutely. it looks like it infrastructure bill is a piece of legislation dealing with roads and bridges, but now we are moving into a world where we are pulling in digital infrastructure. the reason that is particularly concerning when it comes to these new digital tokens is that there are three primary concerns. one is around custody. when we move to digital assets,

they do not have the same ability for people who control those platforms to be able to moderate or report what is happening on their platform, which is why there is a lot of pushback on the infrastructure bill from potential minors. they cannot actually see what is going on. it's part of a much broader concern that people should be looking at, which is that we are basically moving management of money and -- money to code. so if code is picking up the baby, tote -- so to speak, we need to be able to look at not just the people who set up these organizations but be able to look at the code and integrity of the code itself. shery: how would that compare with having more laws and regulations in the u.s. with the rest of the world, given cryptocurrencies have no borders? guest: it's a problem everywhere.

there is no country that has particularly nailed cryptocurrency regulation and that is because we do not really know what these things are yet. we could say they are digital twins of things happening in the real world, so that could mean they are a legal contract, a non-fungible token representing a piece of art. we do know they are not just money. we do know they are not just commodities. some are regulated as commodities. some places are doing interestingly like lichtenstein. the regulator in switzerland is taking a new approach. singapore. we don't know what these things are. the primary risk is the change over time. they are assets that evolve. shery: we need a global institution to play regulatory catch up? guest: we are leading that way,

we just do not know what the actual regulator should be. give the bank of international settlement -- you have the bank of international settlement. because of these cross sectors and industry it is not clear exactly who the regulator should be. but what we do now is just looking down one parallel, for example trying to sort out corporations law, exactly as you see, it looks like it is about infrastructure but it has the implication on custody and brokerage for tokens. that is such a surprising thing. we will see that more and more in every piece of legislation. haidi: d think the environmental aspects, the negativity for coining for to currency have attracted, is a result of -- do

you think that is a solvable problem? that feels like another policy intersection where so far we have kind of have been added inability to make any decision. guest: the blockchain we are familiar with is called the public permission blockchain. what we will see happening next is the rise of private commissioned distributed ledger technology, critical infrastructure, software infrastructure for each country where they will have data security, cybersecurity, legal certainty, and the ability for people to use the infrastructure. we are paying good attention to digitization of money. we are going to start needing to see better public infrastructure that has the public interest component going forward.

shery: it was great having you on. take a look at the long-term price of both bitcoin and the theory and. we of course to have the uncertainty over regulations in the u.s. infrastructure bill. still, we continue to see bitcoin rallying. ethereum also rallying. creeping higher, giving that cash given that every time cerium surpasses the $3000 mark, we sought fall below that level. we did get that network upgrade. meanwhile we are also looking at the day ahead in korea. we have some second-quarter earnings to watch, including gs holdings. we also have a bond sale.

2.5 trillion won. the justice ministry will reconvene a review committee to decide on the samsung electronics vice chairman's role . this will potentially allow him to be freed by august 13. we will have more on that later. up next, warren buffett takes a step back with his capital deployment in the second quarter. we take a look at the latest results from berkshire hathaway. this is bloomberg. ♪

haidi: warren buffett sick a step back with his capital deployment. berkshire hathaway repurchased 6 billion dollars of stock. the lowest buyback since mid-2020. finance now is katherine chiglinsky. guest: he's really struggled with this over the past couple of years. he is not been able to find the big acquisitions and not come up with any in the second quarter. while he was still buying back stock, which is a good sign of one way he could deploy some stack, -- some cash, it was just 6 billion, the lowest amount is repurchased over the past year. investors will start to question, can buffett find ways to actually supercharge berkshire hathaway's growth?

buybacks, acquisitions, all are struggling new little bit. shery: what about the businesses themselves. however they faring? reporter: berkshire showed quite a good amount of resilience. part of that was helped by the second quarter of last year being pretty rough. it's also businesses like the radio -- railroad hit a record profit during this quarter. some of that was traffic on the rails, but also combined with productivity efforts they made over the past year when they were facing lower volume. overall businesses seem to be faring quite well. shery: we continue to see supply chain issues infecting inflationary pressures. any signs how that is affecting business? reporter: warren warned about this back in his annual meeting. he said we are seeing price issues affect the supply chain and they were having to raise

some prices of their own businesses. he because a red-hot economy already and we saw that continuing to the second quarter. particularly some of their building product companies, the ones that handle different products for housing, ended up having to pay a higher cost for stuff like -- they said they were able to pass of it to customers but definitely a sign inflation is affecting all parts of business. shery: katherine chiglinsky there with the latest on berkshire hathaway -- berkshire hathaway. we're single prices fall as much is 4.1% in asia, it -- solar prices also falling as much a 7% in asia and coming at a time when we already saw the downward pressure on precious metals. gold for example fell the most in seven weeks after the very strong u.s. jobs report fueling expectations at the fed could start paring back massive monetary stimulus soon.

rising inflation could stub her -- could to spur the central bank to act sooner than expected. to honor 1.4%. gold also down one point, 7% in asia. we will have more on these precious metals in a few minutes. but coming up next, samsung electronics vice chairman might be granted a presidential pardon. we have the latest. this is bloomberg. ♪

collects they are selling the australian life insurance business to tal for about $660 million. they say the deal is an exclusive twenty-year alliance. the bank seized a deal subject to regulatory approval. the china antitrust regular is reviewing blackstone's offer to buy soho china. the chinese regular so they may suggest additional information.

i was offered more than -- they were offered more than $3 billion in aid stake. j.p. morgan has won approval from chinese regulators for full ownership of his china securities venture. the bank had already moved to a stake to 71% in november. that's the latest signal that u.s. financial firms are moving forward with plans, despite tensions with beijing. haidi: a south korean parole review committee is due to convene on monday to discuss the cases of the samsung vice chairman. he could be freed on august 13 at the justice minister approves control cash parole, i should say, after serving prison time. what are we expecting from the review committee meeting today? reporter: today is certainly a

big day for him. the justice mistry will decide whether to grant parole to him. liberation day would be august 18th. if a majority of the members vote in favor of him, the justice miniter will give approval later this afternoon. if all things go well, he will be released this friday morning. he needs to get an exemption from a five-year employment restriction before he can come back to the office. shery: what are the pending issues at samsung? reporter: samsung has been stealth mode, keeping a low profile since he was sent back to jail in january. it means samsung will push forward key initiatives, including u.s. investment and large-scale m and days.

the most pending issue is the $17 billion investment. they're not decided whether -- where to build its first-ever ub base plants in the u.s. and the decision is likely to be made under this leadership. shery: -- haidi: is he really free now? reporter: even though he gets out of jail, he is not free from legal trouble. he's already on trial for the merger of samsung units and he will face another one this month related to alleged illegal use. shery: how is samsung faring on the business side of things? we just had their latest earnings, what do we see? reporter: it's been on the ship boom, and it is underperformed

because of concerns that it might stop. samsung has been pouring money into investment and r&d's and they are likely to accelerate and push forward three nanometer foundry technology, which accompanies tsmc. that will elevate samsung of some of the global supply chain crunch. shery: we are less than five minutes away from the open in south korea. let's turn to sophie for what to watch. reporter: on the earnings calendar, we cms on the earnings. a reaction to deal flow in south korea's neighbor, they're reportedly signed a deal decided 20% stake in cafe 20 corporation this week for 100 to 200 million won. we will watch reaction to news

that a cbc led consortium -- flipping the board over, we are skunked -- we are going to be watching refiners. they have appointed goldman as an advisor in case they become a takeover target. in australia they are reportedly among potential suitors. to give you an eye on the earnings lineup in sydney, you have suncorp on the radar there, following its earnings week and buyback announcement. haidi: coming up we get a preview of chinese inflation data. we will also be getting more insight on the ing -- on the markets within an ing markets analyst. some of those investment opportunities. and we do have the ought -- the market opens in sydney and seoul next. tokyo is closed for another

public holiday. we are counting down to the start of trading. this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: welcome to daybreak asia. haidi: i'm in sydney. seoul has us open for a trade. power stories this hour. precious metals and a slowdown in chinese export growth ahead of inflation data due out.

alibaba fired its manager accused of sexual assault, the ceo saying the company must rebuild. plus, bytedance reportedly planning a hong kong listing even as big tech is crackdown on. sydney and seoul are coming online. >> little change after we saw the asx 200 at a three-day rise. stalling around those levels. we will see aussie yields push higher but those gains are being capped. the offshore yuan, back above 648. over the weekend, comes ahead of the inflation report due monday. switching out the report to check out the open of soul this morning, after a two week decline for the kospi. let's look at how we are faring in seoul.

earnings very much in focus with lg chemical missing its earnings and we have the kospi lower by 4 -- way 4%. the korean won trading at its lowest level since august. we are seeing that may take lower. the ipo outlook also very much in focus in south korea. switching up the board we have metal in focus this morning. gold and silver extending losses on the back of the strong u.s. jobs report on friday. gold is losing ground. touching that $1700 level. silver falling as much as 7%. after we saw the first weekly rise since june for u.s. 10 year yields. treasury futures are lower this morning. the tapering timeline is being considered. shery: let's discuss the broader markets.

kyle, as sophie was saying, we are seeing the repercussions of the very strong u.s. jobs numbers with the metals prices, which takes me to our question of the day -- how far will gold fall, given the u.s. jobs numbers we have seen? i want to expand on that question and ask you, where we going to see the biggest impact? we are already seeing it in metals prices. guest: i think the biggest impact are on the u.s. dollar, mostly because that's where everything will gravitate around from now on. if you look at what we have from friday night, jobs numbers and then on top of that the reaction to the stronger u.s. dollar, i think the action overall is on commodity prices and risk currencies despite the fact that they obviously could -- the global economy overall, the strong labor markets, he very good thing. i would caution about getting to overexcited.

we are finding some liquidity in asian trade, we always do and monday morning. japan is off-line line, singapore two. . some giving up on the fundamental thesis that gold should be a buy based on the knock on effects of the u.s. jobs numbers on the u.s. fed policy. a stronger u.s. dollar emerging. it is incredibly choppy trade this morning. i would not write the obituary for gold just yet. but certainly it is one to watch going forward while we get through this turbulence. shery: to your point on t dollar, this chart showing how the bloomberg dollar index is retracing half the losses we saw since the 2021. where to the dollar going forward now, given what we are

seeing from the u.s. jobs numbers and where the fed is headed? guest: i think we are starting to see a reversal in trends. once we break down the previous highs, if you look from a technical point, we have momentum skewed to the upside. we have a little over pricing from the rally. upon sticking a hawkish pivot, so to speak. what we are seeing now is a societal testy cycle where global expansion has reached its peach -- peak. u.s. is dominant again. inflation trade is coming to an end, dominance for the dollar. it will be a macro, long-term trade. everything now is about when the

fed starts to taper, notwithstanding some shocks to the economy or other things that could change the situation. his fundamental to do it now, and where we are heading, in terms of monetary policy. that is going to be good for the dollar, not good for the risk currencies. that 93, 50 level is one to watch. >> piercing reports that bytedance fuse getting back to its ipo plans despite the regulatory specter that remains. using the longer interest is an opportunity in china are still there. what is an accurate discount they can reflect was going on? guest: i don't think there is any precise scientific number. just because it is very arbitrary in a way, and it is incredibly difficult to discount effectively the decision-making

of chinese authority. they are doing is to make a statement. it is not their decision on economic policy. this is about making a statement. it is very difficult for markets to discount the risk of that. i do think that this sentiment and broader volatility we are seeing, especially in the chinese tech space, has some extraordinary opportunities. the here is stick you have to follow here is that for the chinese state, what is a strategy -- a strategically significant business? the chinese commons party want to see those businesses succeed in the future. a lot of those tech players are among them because of the importance to the economy going forward as well as chinese soft power and the strategic goal for the chinese party has. those are maybe not right now, given the fact that we are still

in the storm as it relates to this crackdown and it might not be the time to buy in, but in the long run this companies are going to be very good investment propositions, because although china is cracking down, they are still very much invested in their success. haidi: the numbers when it comes to covid, delta cases continue to rise in australia. you said investors effort he much shrugged their shoulders at this. what are you watching out for when it comes to earnings that will be impactful? >> in australia they definitely have. what's going on in china is a bit more concerning. we have to keep a watchful eye on that. as far as australia goes, investors have certainly shrugged their shoulders, at least on aggregate on how company profits will be impacted by new lock downs in new south wales and in melbourne, as well. i don't think the markets are going to take a long-term hit to

profit and it will be a little bit like what we saw last year, where there will be a short sharp hit to activity, short sharp hit to profits, before we rebound. that could prove to be the case, but as a trader you look for the opportunities where you might be against the crowd and the risk reward is skewed to the upside. at the moment, f the markets are all priced effectively, that this is not going to be a big deal, but we have corporate coming out saying, i think it's a valid point. perhaps this impact the company profits might be a little longer. this view that the market is priced and at the moment it is obviously very high in the index for record highs is valid. maybe this will be a longer-term impact from the lockdown.

especially as the vaccine rollout is continuing to disappoint. haidi: always great to have you with us. let's get to vonnie quinn with the first word headlines. reporter: thank you. singapore will recalibrate its foreign worker policies to ensure a balance of accessing overseas applications with addressing the economic and social concerns of its citizens. prime minister -- the prime minister says the government is aware of heightened concerns over foreign workers during the pandemic. the prime minister says maintaining social harmony takes unremitting work. >> we have to adjust our policies to manage the quality, numbers, and concentrations of foreigners in singapore. if we do this well, we can continue to welcome foreign workers and new immigrants. as we must.

reporter: the top infectious disease doctor in the u.s. as he strongly in favor of booster shots for people with weekend immune systems. this comes as the delta variant drives u.s. infections to more than 100,000 per day. these are levels not seen since the winter search six months ago. >> we need to look at them in a different light. then the durability for a normal person. which means we would almost certainly be boosting those people before we boost the general population that has been vaccinated. we should be doing that reasonably soon. reporter: taliban fighters have siege the fourth regional capital. officials say the insurgent

group took control of the kunduz governor's office, police headquarters, and the main prison building, where 500 inmates were freed. global news 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i am a vonnie quinn. this is bloomberg. haidi: still had we get a preview of china's inflation data with the asia-pacific chief china economist. alibaba says it is firing its manager and working with police in allegations if -- of sexual misconduct. we get you the details next. this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: here's a quick check of the latest headlines china's largest five education firms are stopping classes taught by foreign-based tutors in response to the regulatory crackdown. a tencent back company said it will stop selling new glasses immediately while risen -- existing customers cannot renew lessons beyond monday. another has suspended all classes for chinese students. tiktok owner bytedance is reportedly revising plans to list in hong kong by early next year, despite a widening chinese tech crackdown. the financial times says the listing may take place next quarter or in early 2022 and that night dance has been working on addressing data security concerns raised by chinese regulators. virgin atlantic is reportedly considering a public offering in london. executives have been posting discussions with bankers and potential investors and could announce the ipo plans within

coming months. the decision would mark the first public opportunity to buy shares in billionaire richard's flagship carrier. alibaba says it will fire a manager accused of sexual assault while to executives who handled the allegation have resign. outrage over the case has been mounting across social media sites on china over the weekend. our china reporter in beijing -- this 11 page document that was circulated on social media channels, it is really causing a huge reaction. what do we know about their response? reporter: we really just came to know about this overnight sunday. already by monday morning we are seeing these resignations. these allegations of all the female employees at the company who said she was forced or pressured to drink during a work trip and then sexually assaulted by clients, as well as her boss. she also accused higher up

executives of [indiscernible] not responding -- of not responding in a timely manner. shery: once the accusations became public, the reaction has been pretty fast. what are we watching for next? reporter: alibaba said it is expediting a code of conduct and will be doing companywide training as it attains to sexual harassment. this case of courses under police investigation. we are watching to see if there will be criminal convictions. haidi: what are we know about the implications for china's #metoo movement now? reporter: china's #metoo movement gained prominence three years ago and then there were these very high-profile accusations against a professor at a very prestigious university in beijing, as well as a state media anchor. since then we have also seen a slew of allegations against environmentalists, academics, journalists.

but we are not seen so many convictions. with this case and also with chris wu, this megastar being detained over allegations of rape which he earlier denied, we are watching to see what these cases will do the movement here in china. shery: lucille lou there in beijing. all this coming at a time when china's widening crackdown in tech continues. we are seeing a report that bytedance may be eying a revival of its hong kong ipo plans. let's crossover to our chief north asia correspondent stephen engle. what we know about this report from bytedance? >> f the story is true in the financial times, it says that they are considering reviving plans for a hong kong ipo that they shelved back in july because of reports that the government is asking them to do

a data security review first and that they have completed or are in the process of that and have allegedly filed, reportedly filed their listing plans with regulators. but of course this is a company under fire from multiple fronts. there were reports and state media last week about regulators looking at content on the media sites that drive traffic. bytedance is mired in this online education clamped, because they have a company on the verge of closing and stopping signing up chinese students to foreign language teachers. so they are under fires from multiple front and now they are saying they will go public as soon as next quarter, maybe the next quarter of 2022. the timing does not seem to jive and bloomberg news reached out to bytedance. they said the story in the financial times was inaccurate. they do not deny, -- they did

not deny it, but said it was inaccurate. haidi: a hefty fine will not help with the financial situation. reporter: this is similar to the investigation that went into ansi book -- into alibaba's anticompetitive behavior. this is being reported that matewan would face up to a $1 billion fine and they have to correct their ways and rectify their practices and what is known as pick one from two, basically exclusivity contracts with merchants, they have to pick them over their competitors. so that is possibly going to end that particular chapter with a billion dollar fine. alibaba got a 2.8 billion dollar fine. again, it's just reports right now. shery: stephen engle joining us there from hong kong. you can get more context on china's crackdown on tech

giants, on redlines china and big tech at the bloomberg technology channel on youtube. this is bloomberg. ♪

>> another incredibly strong jobs markets report. >> very strong report. across all metrics. >> across the board. >> leisure and hospitality jobs were among the top gainers. the service sector shows this recovery is coming in full force. >> this is a critical note for the fed. his notches, we got one big report. it is month after month. >> may be the transitory inflation is going to be with us longer. >> this is not going to be in earlier tightening, but it could

be an earlier tapering. >> the fed risks falling behind the curve. >> very encouraging, very consequential report, but i think the next payrolls report will be the decision-making report for the fed. haidi: precious metals are tumbling in early asian trading. the stronger jobs report fueling expectations the fed may start to pair back on monetary stimulus. let's get over to jim thornhill for more. what is the midterm outlook when it comes to silver and gold right now? reporter: morning. sharp move this morning, which is really follow-through from the strong payrolls report from friday. as you mentioned, the fed tapering might start sooner than previously thought. people are piling into the dollars and the treasuries at the expense of precious metals.

inflation is a risk and the rising inflation can sometimes play in favor of precious metals . if we do start to see inflation get to run away levels in the u.s., then that might flip the coin somewhat. but it is too early to say at the moment. the market is just focused on that stronger growth outlook in the u.s., the world's largest economy. people think there are better options for their money outside of precious right now. shery: our viewers watching a chart showing the real yields have fallen and gold has rallied during that time. what are we seeing in the physical market? reporter: yeah, it is starting to pick up a little bit. but it is still the early days on that one. it is a speculative market right now. all the focus is on the state of the global economy.

again we are looking at how the delta variant develops. it is looking pretty gloomy in some parts of the world. that could be a hurdle to growth. i would not rule out gold just yet. we are still in a very uncertain role -- uncertain world. that is generally a positive thing for precious metals because they are that story value -- store of value. haidi: taking a look at the huge numbers out of saudi aramco, is the delta variant going forward going to be a comp kitty factor, the yucca -- factor, though? reporter: i guess in the u.s. they will be hoping that the vaccine rollout offer some insulation against this. the signs are quite positive at the moment which is reflected in the strong oil prices.

very strong rebound in profits for saudi aramco. very handsome dividends. things looking good there at the moment. with that caveat, we have to see if this improving trend continues. shery: james thornhill there with the latest on the commodities space. take a look at what this bank is doing after its trading debut last week we saw it surge last week. we are seeing it up 12%. it's market cap surpassing that of some of the biggest names in south korea, we are talking about market cap of around $32 billion. $32.6 million after listing and trading on the kospi last week. the bank operates no brick and

mortar branches but the offering was more than 1700 times subscribed. we continue to see the rally there. coming up next, we talk about china's inflation data do in an hours time. this is bloomberg. ♪ total gym includes everything you need to get into the best shape of your life. for every body at any age. it works every muscle group, including your core, using your own body weight as resistance. customers love total gym because it's fun, fast and effective. nothing delivers full body results like total gym. and right now you can try it risk free and enjoy special savings too! get on demand workouts free, free shipping and more. call now!

♪ shery: a bit of a mixed picture across markets in asia. soph? sophie: markets of line, exacerbating some of the moves in other corners of the market. equities off by .5%, chipmakers and others gains in al:. eric -- cal bank. they are expanding market cap. on tuesday, they are making its trading debut. extending gains for a fourth day, hit fresh records.

while in new zealand, qe stocks range bound. we consider the fed's taper timeline, which put pressure on the bonds. we are seeing treasury futures continuing to tick lower, 10 year yield back below 122. we're seeing the kiwi yield curve flattening. korean bond futures ticking lower. we're seeing heavy moves when it comes to metals. as our guest noted, he's not writing the obituary for gold just yet given the technical moves we are seeing with liquidity on monday. gold, though, we are seeing it under pressure, testing the 700 level, silver falling as much as 7%. we're seeing copper prices coming under pressure, and oil continuing down, brent below $70 a barrel as the delta spread ways on short-term demand out

around the world. switching up the board to check on currencies, the dollar on the back of the jobs report friday, the aussie and moving above. we digest the trade report that we got from china on the weekend. and we have the inflation report due out monday. you see the i figure, that will certainly have some implications for the china bond market. shery: and of course, the implications for the u.s. bond market, push for massive infrastructure deal in the u.s. senate. it's threatening to deliver higher taxes and inflation, according to billionaire investor leon kopelman, who warned it won't and we -- end well in an interview with david westin. >> they're not suggestive of a bear market. there markets don't come about through immaculate conception.

they come about through certain fundamental reasons. number one, problematic inflation. we're not there yet, mainly because of fed speak, a hostile fed, which you don't have. in fact, i'm critical of the fed. and we're just coming out of recession. or an exuberantly based price market. although i'm conservative in my outlook, the stock market is very self corrective. the area that is most overvalued has had a big divide. cyclically, they have been divided and that expense my positive view. my long-term concerns, i think we're borrowing from the future. laura tyson is a very extinct wished economist -- distinct wished economist -- distinguished economist. the response would be centered around 2% real. that's the function of labor force growth, which is about .5% per adam.

that determines real growth in any economy. 2% real. economic bully, you say 2.5%. add 2% inflation, phenomenal gdp growth, 4%. we had real growth this year, four times potential, but fed or holding interest rates to near zero. makes no sense to me. i understand what they're doing, but i think it's going to have a bad end to it. secondly, we've already injected into the economy $1 trillion of stimulus in excess of wages lost, yet they're trying to do another $2 trillion, $3 trillion on top of that. this nation was founded 245 years ago. we had known -- and -- no national debt. and when this party ends, basically, it's not going to end well. and nobody knows where it's going to end. socrates, around 400 bce, said he was the wisest man alive. he knows one thing, and that is

i know nothing. a few thousand years later, warren buffett said the forecast of the future will tell you more about the forecast then it will about the future. i think we have a bad end to this. i think we're borrowing from the future. i think bonds are totally mispriced. if i told you u.s. historical bonds are in line with nominal gdp, let's say nominal gdp on trade bases rose at 4%. that would imply 4% 10 year bond. this year, i think in the third quarter, gdp is expected to grow 13%, yet we have a 1.3% bond rate. you're an investor, you pay taxes, you keep 6% of the 1.3%, inflation rate is running 4%, 5%. so, stocks make all the sense in the world relative to bonds, but bonds make no sense. that bothers me greatly.

troubled by the shift to the left taking place in the country. 30% of the young people today take socialism is the preferred system to capitalism. they don't have a clue. shery: that was leon cooperman speaking to david westin. we are expecting china's inflation figures in about an hour. economists are expecting cpi numbers close to 0.8%. figures are staying at around 8.8%. let's get more analysis. i want to bring in the chief china economist at barclays asia-pacific. always great to have you with us. let me throw out a chart to st with, which has been running pretty hot. we aren't expecting too much moderation this month either. we sell very muted moderation in the previous month. does this potentially get in the way of market expectations of more easing from the government? >> no, i don't think so. actually, our forecast is also the forecast will stay elevated in the near term. but if you look at the latest

july bureau meeting and the dovish tone, calling for more proactive fiscal policy and the monetary policy to ensure sufficient liquidity. in our view, the pboc will continue to maintain an accommodative stance, especially in view of the spreading delta variant in china now to around 17 provinces, and also more signs of a slowing economy. shery: in particular when it comes to inflation, we haven't seen that, right? are the risks even more skewed to the downside, as you say, with the delta variant? jian: indeed. the reason why the view is that inflation is not an issue, even

though it would be trending higher in the second half of the year. it's that overrode domestic demand has been soft, and pgi has been very. and the inflation has been in contraction and dragging down cpi inflation. that's why we are looking for moderation in cpi inflation this month. shery: we have seen already the likes and tomorrow holding downgrades their third quarter gdp forecast for china. we seen some forecasts coming from goldman sachs, as well, potential downgrades. where do you see growth for china the rest of the year? jian: yeah, we actually have downgraded chinese growth in june. even our analysis back to china services, as well as consumption will stay sluggish and subdued. and in the recent weeks, we saw the covid outbreak quickly

spread, and we did see the government acclimate to restrictive measures and travel and quarantine and lockdown, and also closure of the indoor/outdoor recreation activities. so, all of these will weigh on services a little more. by our estimates, this latest outbreak could shave true gdp growth. part of that was already taken into account in our current forecast. so our two average forecast for q3 is around 5.3% shery: and yet, the fiscal and monetary a 30's in china continue to signal they will perhaps do more. how much of that can be upset by what's to come? jian: yes, so on the fiscal side, we're all counting on the more special bonds to be issued to investment.

but we have to note that china's infrastructure investment has been running around 3% the past three years. so, do not count too much on that growth. and on the other hand, for the money issue policy, we have forecasted another forecast in q4, and i think targeted the policy rates to support the targeted area of the economy of small media enterprise, financing, and supporting the manufacturing sector. and those are all -- shery: great having your insights from barclays asia-pacific. will have more. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ >> this is daybreak: asia. a new poll suggests australia's approval of the prime minister has fallen to the lowest level of the pandemic. the news poll has talked about his handling of the crisis at 40%, down from 85% in april of last year. with the national election due by may, the opposition labour party maintains a six point lead over morrison's conservative coalition. wildfires raging in greece,

spurring further evacuations of the second largest island. blazes almost a week ago due to the heatwave have cut across the popular summer destination, destroying homes and businesses. thousands of residents and tourists have been forced to flee, some escaping on flotilla's into the night. soccer superstar leah no messy is said to have found -- lionel messi is said to have found a new home. he will undergo a medical exam for signing. talks collapsed between him and barcelona. he was emotional at a news conference, saying he had been expecting to remain with his old team but that this is a possibility. global news, 24 hours a day on air and on bloomberg quicktake, powered by more than 2,700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i'm vonnie quinn. this is bloomberg. haidi: and shery, this has been

a bigger story than the closing of the tokyo olympic games, this news that lionel messi is leaving barcelona, the club he has played since he was 13 years old. it was a very emotional press conference. this comes after a lot of back-and-forth between negotiating a 50% pay cut. i found it really interesting that this revenue models, a number of these big football clubs operate on, we know that barcelona, some of the other spanish clubs are 100% fan owned. that means they have been able to build up enormous amounts of debt, buying these top players. take a look at this chart when it comes to cumulative revenue in the league. it stumbled below germany's club amid the covid-19 lockdowns, which i've meant they have been playing to empty stadiums. we've seen the league selling 10% to bbc capital to try and boost these finances that have taken such a big hit as a result of covid.

shery: and no wonder we saw barcelona teaming up with other major clubs in order to establish that european super league in the hopes that that would bring in more revenue. that didn't really happen. it just went away in a few days or so, but he really tells you a lot about how these spanish clubs can't sell a stake without fan approval. their ownership structure being different. it's a challenging time. you can see messi very emotional. who wouldn't be after 17 seasons playing with the same team? let's turn to singapore because it's now saying it will fine-tune its foreign worker policy to address concerns among some citizens. the prime minister said he recognized anxieties over jobs have worsened with uncertainties caused by covid-19. let's get more from haslinda almond, our chief international course -- haslinda amin, our chief international correspondent. annmarie: the perennial

--haslinda: the pernio hot button issue the last few years -- perennial hot button issue the last few years. we had opposition possible -- politicians demanding scrutiny. just to put it all in perspective, shery, we have for an accounting for 30% of the population. when you look at the unemployment rate, it surged about 4.9% last year, the highest level on record, easing to about 3.8% in the second quarter. but still higher than the average of 2.5%, so you can appreciate why singaporeans have been grappling and been unhappy about jobs and the promising knowledge that he says he understands that singaporeans are competing for jobs in the pandemic. this is what he had to say. >> we have to adjust our policies to manage the qualities, numbers, and

concentrations of policies in singapore. if we do this well, we can continue to welcome foreign workers and new immigrants, as we must. haslinda: so, a fine-tuning of foreign policies, but he also warned that singapore can't begin to look for work now because it would be detrimental to the economy. it will be in the fundamental interest of the economy, which has been tied to foreign markets. so, they can't afford to do that just yet. haidi: and did we get any sort of update when it comes to the reopening of covid-19 measures from feminist really? -- from prime minister lee? haslinda: he says singapore is more resilient now. 2% of the population is vaccinated, 80% of the elderly with at least one jab. but he said a reopening would be taken step-by-step only.

singapore has to be careful because it is not just about the country alone. he understands there has been a lot of frustration. everyone talks about a reopening. it has to take a step back because of the pushback, the tightening of policies. but he says that we have to stand united as one, because he understands that amid the pandemic, there have been a lot of stresses and strains on the people, but it has to forge ahead. so it celebrates its 56th birthday. there are lots of issues that need to be addressed, but it has to put things in perspective. it has gone from colonial backwater to high-tech city. shery: haslinda amin in singapore. the daily virus infections it anew record the weakened. and the new york times reported over 1000 antigovernment protests were clashing with police and grew over government's handling of the virus. let's get more from our reporter

in bangkok. let's start with the protest on the weekend. >> so, yes, as you mentioned, thousands of people have gathered on saturday, continuing to add pressure on the government. it's been more than a month since the protesters were turned in thailand after a long hiatus. and we have been seeing weekly gatherings in bangkok over the past month. that often ended with police using rubber bullets and water cannons and tear gas on protesters, like on the weekenders to disperse the crowd. protesters said they planned to draw special support from people who are frustrated with the government's handling of the outbreak and the vaccine rollout. so they're using this opportunity to revive the movement and push for the government's resignation. shery: so, tell us a little bit more about the protester's demands.

what exactly do they want? randy: their key demand is the government's resignation. they accuse the government of mismanaging the covid-19 outbreak, ad vaccination rollout. and they want a new government. recently, the protesters also adopted a new demand, calling for more of the mrna vaccine to be used in a country were only about 6.6% of the population are fully inoculated. and other demands also include a change in the election system and monetary reform. but the government really didn't respond to any of those demands at all. for the protesters, what they really want is an overhaul of the constitution to make it more democratic and an end to this regime. haidi: randy tang from night joining us from hong kong. tune into bloomberg radio. get an in-depth analysis from the daybreak team. broadcasting live in our studio from hong kong, listen free on the app, radio plus, or

bloomberg radio. plenty more ahead. stay with us. ♪

♪ shery: and here's a quick check of the lititz business flash headlines. warren buffett -- the business flash headlines. warren buffett took a step back,

explain dollars of stock, the lowest amount of buyback -- $6 billion of stock, the lowest amount of buyback. that's despite having more than $144 billion of funds in the war chest. australian lender westpac is selling its life insurance business for about $660 million. westpac says the deal is an exclusive 20 year alliance to premium customers. the bank sees the deal closing in the second half subject to regulatory approval. "the suicide squad" led the box office, but fall short of estimations, $26 million in north american ticket sales, lower than the forecast of $28 million. new covid cases are cutting into theater sales, and many fans are screaming the movie -- streaming the movie on hbo max for no

after charge. haidi: it is a holiday. japan, singapore both off. take a look at the stocks losing. what are you watching? karina: we are keeping an eye -- sophie: we are keeping an eye on stocks in hong kong. we have to cut prices ahead of the traditional peak season to manage the liquidity crunch. developers are on china after the enter trust regulator in china gave the green light for the company. we are keeping an eye on geely, on news the chinese chi record -- carmaker signed a deal with renault, as in south korea, alibaba has two exec it is facing assault allegations. company says higher tax rates are on the horizon for the chinese internet industry. we're keeping an eye on chinese chipmakers after state media warned regulators may crackdown

on speculators in the state amid the chip crunch we're seeing around the world. we've seen shares jump nearly 30% in the past two weeks. shery: and we truly have seen downside pressure, given some news on price collusion. but still, it seems to be hardware versus software stuff are pretty well, especially when it comes to msci asia-pacific info tech index, which gained last week the most since january compared to communications services. they are led by those tech giants like text -- like tencent, which fell for a third week. no surprise we are seeing that gap between hardware companies and suffer companies. haidi: and we're also sing divergence when it comes to tech outside china, as well. take a look at the situation when it comes to slumping global bond yields, burnishing the

appeal of asian tech shares outside of china, which seem to be immune to regulatory of beijing, right? we're seeing the msci asia-pacific technology tech slumping at the same time we're seeing hong kong stocks continue to fill that downside there, as well. so, it will be very interesting because we heard from cal earlier in the hour, that these long-term opportunities for china are in tax, but it's hard to get his ability at the extent -- visibility at the extent right now. sophie: long-term seems to be positive, but short-term, we continue to hear about potential tax hikes for alibaba. mates one. we are talking about bytedance potentially listing, so that could be a positive. of course, we are watching to see details on all of these companies. there's a lot to digest. that's it from daybreak asia.

our markets coverage continues as we look to the start of trading hong kong, shanghai, and shenzhen. standby for bloomberg markets china open. this is bloomberg. ♪

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>> 9:00 a.m. in beijing and shanghai. david: coming down your first session of the week. let's get to your top stories today. oil, gold and silver all down on fears the fed may start tearing stimulus sooner. after payroll exceeding estimates. yvonne: no respite for china's tech firms. tencent get sued over we