♪ haidi: we are counting down to ages major market open. shery: welcome to daybreak asia. top stories this hour, asian stocks setup hollow abounds in the u.s. after jay powell thomases to tackle inflation to extend the economic expansion. other fed policy makers they are ready to act. loretta mester tells bloomberg

she supports a march rate hike. in china, today's data set to show producer and consumer price pressures moderating. haidi: we are getting the south korean december unemployment numbers and the adjusted jobless rate coming in at 3.8 percent, higher than expectations. it is also higher than november jobless rate, which came in at 3.1%. the economy did add 773,000 jobs in december from a year earlier, leading for the jobless rate to rise 3.8%. perhaps it could be labor force participation that could have sent jobless rates higher but we know 773,000 jobs were added in december from a year earlier. a key data point in south korea this week is the -- rate decision. haidi: absolutely. we continue to watch central banks. take a look at the picture when

it comes earlier. we are seeing tepid upside following the rebound we had in the u.s. we are expecting most asian markets to trade higher following the recovery allow -- recovery rally. the -- elevated just a little bit in the first few minutes. where watching specific names when it comes to -- in particular saying the block has gotten the bank of spain approval when it comes to that crucial deal. block is formally known as square, and received -- from the bank of spain following the acquisition from lanai. where watching big minors as well. also new zealand, a bit of upside. chicago nikkei futures looking mild at the moment. we are seeing weakness in the yen after five straight sessions of gains. that typically helps equity sentiment. fed chair jay powell pledging to

raise rates as much as necessary to rein in surging inflation, linking it to continued improvement of the economy. our global economics editor is here with more from his senate confirmation hearing. kathleen, what is the messaging on rate hikes mean? what did we hear about a renewed commitment in rhetoric? >> it is so clear in every way that the federal reserve is not just thinking about raising rates, they are not wondering about inflation, they are ready to start raising rates. they are ready to raise rates repeatedly if they have to. it echoed what we heard from jay powell after the december meeting. it act -- echoed what we heard last week, dropping the word transitory, getting ready to start hiking rates. here is what jay powell said that resonated with so many people at the senate confirmation hearing. >> if we see inflation persisting at high levels, longer than expected, we will --

we have to raise interest rates more over time, we will. we will use our tools to get inflation back. >> he's not toying around the idea that the economy is strong enough. he says now, price stability is needed to maintain expansion. in a way, high inflation is a severe threat to the achievement of maximum employment. he is ready to start balance sheet runoff to reduce stimulus further. in fact, he did avoid citing the number of rate hikes, the timing of the first hike. that is what a fed chair would do at this time. you can't talk for everybody until you know what's on everybody's mind. president of the cleveland fed is ready to act on the rate lift off if conditions remain as they are. the atlanta fed is ready to cap inflation. esther george in kansas city is

also ready to start reducing the balance sheet. republicans and democrats are worried about inflation. they are worried about midterm elections and the unpopularity of high inflation. democrat sherrod brown says he expects an easy confirmation. shery: kathleen hays breaking down the latest from the fed. we are getting inflation data in china later today. the picture is very different from the u.s. with economists seeing both ppi and cpi easing. the brick economics says inflationary pressure is seeing a broad retreat. this may be the first time that post cpi and ppi will moderate since july. let's get more analysis from -- what is driving this? >> on the consumer side, there has been a big pullback in food prices and pork prices in particular.

there is year on year effect, that is probably going to drag consumer prices. on the producer side of things which everyone is watching so closely, there has been a retreat in prices paid for oil and coal. that is going to drag down upstream cost and bring back overall ppi to around 11.3% from almost 13%. when you have moderating inflation, the pboc now has room to start supporting the economy more. they have already signaled a big shift that they are going to start doing more to have growth. similar economists are expecting now there may be a median low finance rate as soon week. there certainly are expectations that pboc will do more for the economy. on the cooler side of things that will give policymakers more room to ease.

haidi: we are staying with hong kong. china has blocked -- stepping up on its measures of covid-19 cases. the latest scuffle between washington and beijing. hong kong also expanding its flats with its market anchor. another blow to the aviation industry. >> once again. let's start with china. what we are here -- what we are hearing from u.s. carriers, united airlines confirmed they have gotten the order from chinese aviation regulators to cancel some flights. at least six american airlines flights have been canceled. also united had to cancel that flight from san francisco to shanghai. this is a pretty popular flight.

the usually made four trips a week. no comment from delta so far, but this is among 60 flights between the two countries that have gotten that order to be canceled because passengers tested positive for covid after arriving the country. that is according to reuters. this sort of dispute has been brewing for some time as u.s. and china tensions arise. you also have pandemic restrictions that are forever changing. the two sides are already in talks when it comes to aircraft cleaning requirements which prompted in december a delta flight to go back to seattle. this is increasing the pressure for a lot of carriers. you are here reading -- hearing from the lobbying group that this is concerning. the implications of these cancellations, the impact they will have on operations. they are in communication with

u.s. and chinese governments to plan a path forward that minimizes the impact to travelers. this will be impacting lunar new year plans as people try to go back to china to visit family. in hong kong, a flight band. if you're coming through or flying from a group a designated high-risk nation, you are not allowed to transit through the airport. this just after a week they canceled flights from eight countries including the u.k., u.s. and canada. perhaps the big bombshell has been that no school for primary school starting this friday for a few weeks until after the lunar new year. we are seeing this, it has been small, relatively speaking but this is some of the strictest pandemic measures measures [no ]

we have [no audio] seen reimposed back in the city since the pandemic began. [no audio] >> when it comes to support and funding for businesses, we should know more details later on. haidi: that's now get a vonnie quinn with headlines. vonnie: the world bank has cut its global growth forecast as covid cases surge. gdp now seen as expanding 4.1% versus previous estimates of 4.3% per the world bank citing diminished policy support and supply chain issues. goldman sachs has lowered its predicted gdp growth for china to 4.3% in 2022, given the difficulty of containing omicron. eu regulators warning that frequent covid-19 boosters could adversely affect the immune system.

the agency says repeat doses every four months could eventually weaken people's immune systems. they want more time between booster programs. israel has already begun a fourth dose program with 400,000 people getting the jab. philippine stock trading will move back to -- sessions from friday amid a surgeon covid. trading will start from 9:00 a.m. and close at 1:00 p.m. it has been only a month since they have returned for a full day. infections have taken a turn for the worse. one in five bank branches in manila are closed due to staff shortages. novak djokovic is training as he prepares to compete for a record 21st glance -- grand slam victory. the tennis star faces deportation for a second time. the number one was released from detention after a judge written -- overturns the cancellation of his visa.

immigration minister alex hauck is considering whether to repeal it again. 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. haidi: still ahead, we take a look at the u-turn in bearish and currency calls as fed hike straw nearer. agricole's eddie cheung. it will be a stock pickers market this year. we get her outlook just ahead. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ haidi: we are seeing that recovery rally play out when it comes to the early part of the sydney session. take a look at the movers we are watching. watching the big -- bhp after we

continue to see new -- when it comes an upgrade. s&p upgraded the bhp if the unification is approved. where lodging after pay as well, saying that block, formerly known as square, has received approval from the bank of spain in regards to its acquisition of lanai. finally, watching cba, the commonwealth bank of a straley a, trading just downside of .1%. resolution could potentially impact cba. u.s. listed chinese stocks surging after beijing pledged to civilize trade and financial institutions to boost credit. let's bring on our guest remains

long own convictions. pooja malik, partner at -- capital. when it comes to the support in china, the market dynamics, is this a return to the state owned enterprise being uphill of market support? >> definitely. the chinese government and authorities are using state owned enterprises as a tool to implement their policies. their main goal of this year is to stabilize the economy and stabilize growth. and to make sure that growth does not have a spillover effect on labor. they are using the state owned enterprises both to create -- as well as -- conditions. haidi: what are the major risks? it does seem to be we are clearly not at the end of the consolidation in the properties sector. are there opportunities where you think there is better

shielded areas and segments from risk? >> yes. property continues to be a big driver of gdp growth in china. the government is trying to prop up that sector. having said that, there are lower risk opportunities. a team we have been very big on is sustainability. within sustainability, looking beyond the obvious, factory stocks and stole -- solar stocks, but stocks they are looking for are stocks that traditionally are not very green but are now going through a change. coal companies now moving to -- has been a really strong thing for us in our portfolios. haidi: how much does that transition to green energy worsen inflationary pressures around the world? >> you are right, it is worsening inflationary pressures not just in china, but

everywhere. as the cost of carbon goes up and there is limited supply of alternatives. investing in these stocks is a way to offset that trade, or hedge inflation because -- tend to do well despite the inflationary environment. like you pointed out prior, powell's speech has gone a long way to ensure the market that inflation is not going to run away and the u.s. fed will do whatever it can to control that. haidi: watching the upcoming ipo in india, the biggest on record, if i believe, life insurance seems to be exuberant. we have seen ups and downs from the indian market. do you see opportunities there? >> of course. india is one of the few markets that has had two strong years of equity return and earnings growth looks exceedingly strong. but, it is expensive, trading at

-- it trades at a 60% -- to asia and japan. a lot of that growth is priced in already. the second issue is that india has hide data risk on markets. as the fed starts to hike rates and risk sentiments are off, india will slowdown which could lead to -- there's lots of reasons to be cautious. haidi: what is the policy outlook for india? when it comes to china, we are expecting a divergence from the fed with the pboc where some say you could actually play to your advantage. is there anything similar happening in india? >> the indian -- in this region -- [indiscernible] the private sector does not have the confidence in the long term

recovery and the government cannot afford more fiscal spending just because the government balance sheet is very poor. interest rates continue to be on an uptrend. india doesn't have the structural wealth to fix the economy, doesn't bode well. haidi: pooja malik always great having your insights. you can get a roundup of all of the stories we have discussed in today's edition of daybreak. bloomberg subscribers, go to your terminal. most -- also available on mobile. you can customize settings so you can only get the news from industries you are actually following. this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: crypto prices stabilizing, but by any measure

it has been a rough start to the new year for bitcoin and its rivals. su keenan joins us. bitcoin managing to avoid the dreaded death clock for another day. >> just another day because it is an ominous technical pattern. if you look at the latest trade for bitcoin and its rivals, there is some green on the screen. a little bit of bouncing up, but just in the last 24 hours we have seen bitcoin below that $40,000 mark for the first time since september. if you look at the one week gains and losses for those same currencies, cryptocurrencies, the galaxy index, you see a lot of red on the screen. many are saying that this has been the worst start to a new year since we began trading bitcoin. as for that ominous technical sign, let's drop into the bloomberg.

the death cross is called the death cross because it is a pattern that shows up whenever an assets 50 day moving average falls below its 200 day moving average. that tends to indicate that the momentum is downward. we are seeing that for both bitcoin and ethereum. no surprise bitcoin supporters are saying because we are seeing big crypto's react to macro pressures, we all know that bitcoin the sword during all of the liquidity the fed was pouring in during the pandemic. it only makes sense that a hawkish fed is causing investors to pause. we did also hear from a big bitcoin bill. nova grat -- believes it could fall to $38,000. that means there is room to fall before he would buy more. many closely watching the

technicals even as we get what is being called a relief rally right now. haidi: speaking of big names, fed chair powell had things to say about crypto as well. su: in his testimony, he didn't address whether stable coins, privately issued stable coins could exist alongside possible central-bank digital currency. he seems to indicate yes, that was a possibility. all conjecture at this point because the fed is preparing a formal report on cryptocurrencies and digital issues in the coming weeks and it likely address the big question of whether the fed will issue its own digital coin and whether it will allow for stable coins, which many consider important because big -- bitcoin and crypto investors use stable coins as a form of transaction to buy and sell other coins,

whether those can coexist. previously, the fed has said they need a lot of regulation. you're looking at the big double hump in bitcoin over the last two years. you looking at a brand-new grayscale index which looks at the fo f. the future of finance. a lot of stocks and other crypto related assets that rise and fall with though, you can see it as bouncing back a little bit there as well. haidi: su keenan with the latest on crypto. let's get you a quick check of business flash headlines. we are taking a look at didi beginning informal talks with the hong kong stock exchange about a listing. the firm says the review process includes a suitability requirement. the exchange is also set to want didi to be fully compliant with 70% to 80% of china's biggest

cities. citadel securities partnering with two silicon valley investors in a deal that buyers -- buys the trading for match 20 $2 billion. sequoia and paradigm will inject $1.5 billion into citadel, the first-ever outside investment in the firm founded by billionaire ken griffin. this could lead to an ipo. citadel securities net trading revenue surged to $7.7 billion in 2020. aia life insurance legacy and australian a bit to streamline its portfolio. the -- has emerged as a -- in policy and day -- could help aia raise a few hundred million dollars. the insurance giant is said to be worth -- looking for a financial advisor. up next, we will be hearing from an emerging markets.

-- will be more resilient this time around as well as getting some of his top picks of the year as well. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ haidi: -- vonnie: federal reserve chair jerome powell pledged to do what is necessary to contain an inflation surge. -- giving fresh details on the path of u.s. monetary policy. powell's remarks to a senate hearing were more guarded than some of his colleagues who have openly called for the fed to start raising rates in march. >> if we see inflation persisting at high levels, longer than expected, then we

will -- if we have to raise interest rates more overtime, we will. we will use our tools to get inflation back. vonnie: powell says privately issued stable coins could compete with a possible central-bank digital dollar. powell told the committee his team will publish a report on digital currency in the coming weeks. the fed has yet to confirm plans to launch its own digital coin. should that happen, it is not clear whether private tokens could be considered genuine rivals. jamie dimon says he is seeing huge pressure on wages for the first time in his life. the jp morgan head said businesses will be forced to deal with the rising price of labor. he added the situation is not as bad as other potential scenarios such as high unemployment. average hourly earnings rose more than expected last month, matching the largest advance since april. china is blocking some flights from the u.s. to contain covid.

american airlines says six of its flights have been barred. united has scrapped flights from san francisco to shanghai. reuters reports these flights are among 60 beijing is canceling after passengers tested positive for covid on arrival. 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. shery: take a look at the market action right now. australian stocks gaining ground for the first time this week after two sessions of losses. we are seeing every sector in green. tech and energy leading. even qe stocks rising marginally after four sessions of lar/sessions of losses. stocks did rise in the new york sessions for the first time in six sessions as we had chair powell reassuring investors that the fed is going to tamp down

inflation and will not hesitate to act. haidi: a chorus of fed officials backing a rate hike. raphael bostic told bloomberg the move needs to be considered to fight inflation. cleveland fed's loretta mester says she will support raising rates of current economic conditions hold. >> the economy is on a good track. inflation numbers are high. it looks now that inflation is more persistent going forward. early in the pandemic, earlier in the last year, a lot of those price increases were really on things that were tied to the reopening of the economy and the supply chain. now they are abroad. if the economy in march look like -- looks like it does today and the outlook is similar, then i would support moving the rate up at that meeting and starting

to move back from some of the extraordinary accommodation we needed earlier in the pandemic. even when we make that first rate move, whenever it is, that is not policy tightening. the -- is still going to be high. i think the case is really strong to begin to wind back some accommodation. >> that raises the question for our friends on the trading floor . how far, how fast and where do you stop? bill dudley says you need to do four or five this year. how far do you think you need to go? >> i can tell you that in december, i had three penciled in for this year and a few more over the trajectory. i also want to point out that we are going to have to see how the economy does overtime before we can say for sure how many rate increases are needed.

there still a lot of uncertainty around the outlook. there is uncertainty around how the pandemic plays out. as we have seen each new variant, the economy has navigated it in terms of economic outlook. right now, we have to say that we probably need to recalibrate our policy stance because inflation is well above where we need it to be. labor markets are tight from the standpoint of a policy relevant framework. do i think we will see labor force participation move up after we get beyond the pandemic? of course. i do not think we can ignore the short or medium run type this in the labor market. we are in a good place in terms of policy and we will have to see how that affects the economy going forward. and the other factors affecting growth and employment. >> speaking of, the feds statement of principle says the

fed funds rate should be the primary tool. you also have a lot of funds on the balance sheet. how does quantitative tightening, to use the term, fit into your thinking? how much would that be worth in terms of additional tightening and when do you think that should be done, if at all? >> we had a little bit of a playbook from last time. i think this time it is different in the sense that we basically have a much larger balance sheet than we did because we had to do asset purchases at the start of the pandemic because of financial market conditions being the disruption of the financial markets. we needed to make sure financial markets continued to function. now that additional liquidity is serving as a policy tool. we also have a much stronger economy now. i think we will be able to allow the balance sheet to run down much faster than we did last

time. because of those factors. and adjusting how far to go, we are still considering that but i think it is good to look at the policy tools as our main tool, but to take into account we are also going to allow the balance sheet to run down. we've doubled the balance sheet over this pandemic period and i think we can bring it down also to support less accommodative monetary policy stance. cleveland fred -- haidi: cleveland fed president. investors are raining and bearish calls that rate hikes are near. let's bring in eddie cheung. eddie, great to have you. it seems a little counterintuitive. last year around spring and fall when we had treasury yields

rising, we had emerging currencies under pressure. what is different this time? >> clearly this time the major differences going to be the growth picture. we look at the life of the emerging markets in asia, we saw a dip in the economy that already happened in 2020. this time around, these economies are a much -- are on a much stronger footing. we have central banks looking to hike rates. of course they also have their own inflation problems but we wouldn't be talking about rate hikes if they were not more constant about growth. from that aspect, yes. you still have this picture where rates are going higher. there is a risk that could draw -- but this is being countered by the asian growth story. and of course, we are seeing a softening in the chinese economy. but we do believe that is going to be offset to a certain extent by expectations of easing. that does help risk sentiment

somewhat. shery: does higher inflation, higher rates also necessarily equal a stronger u.s. dollar? >> not necessarily. what is important right now is yes, to a certain extent you have higher rates, but what should really matter is real rates for the dollar. what we have seen, compared to previous instances is previously -- were not as low as they are today. the dollar is basically coming back from a much lower level. there is more room for that to come up. secondly, if we actually look at the dollar, we are starting at a much higher level compared to before. what that tells us is a lot of good news is already priced into the dollar. from that perspective, it is certainly time to look elsewhere. it is not just about the dollar anymore.

shery: what do you see as the catalyst in driving recovery in the second half? >> for us, we would say firstly the most important part is in the first half, we are looking for more -- weakness given we do believe the growth story is going to be of bigger concern. we have not seen that yet, but as we look at the economics, if we look at some of the underlying growth factors such as covid, supply chain disruptions, these also remain in place. from our view, we see this gradually hinting into the economy and what is very clear right now is signal from authorities. they are basically telling us they do not want the -- to be very strong. from that perspective, we believe the -- will be re-curved in the first half. that is why basically as the

economy recovers, we think that policy signal shift will fade away. and therefore, the -- can start to appreciate. shery: where do you see the outperformance in emerging markets given that this time around, this sort of dynamic between how they are expected to react after the fed is somewhat different? >> if we look across asia, we will be looking at economies where growth is stronger. central banks will tighten. of course, economies where we believe they have a better job -- they have done a better job managing covid. an economy that does stand out there is the singapore dollar. from that perspective, we think the market agrees. when we look at the performance over the past few weeks, we have basically seen a rocketing up as the singapore dollar has -- faster relative to a lot of --

that is a currency which we like. we think even in volatility, the singapore dollar benefits as a haven. that is one area in which we do like. -- we probably like better in the second half. as you can see, one currency which we dislike, we think will probably be more disadvantaged would be the philippine peso, just given the growth story. you also have elections. but we did see in november trade numbers was the biggest trade deficit on record. from an external perspective, that will continue to weigh on the php. haidi: when it comes to commodities, what do you see as the dynamic their, particularly in the relationship to oil prices? >> i think the old dynamic is

going to be a bit different this year relative to previous years. one big driver of commodity prices last year, was given we had a lower base. if you look at this year, on a year on year basis, oil prices are not going to be rising as quickly. however, we expect the overall commodity prices to remain elevated. there will be some volatility, given that from a china perspective we are seeing a slowdown in growth. that basically does crimp on commodity demand. overall, as we look across 2022, we expect commodity prices to be supported. commodity producers, probably a bit more softness. in the second part of the year, we expect it to look better. as we look across asia, indonesia, very big commodity producers. we are looking to hike twice this year. it is going to be seeing two

benefits. the -- is going to offset the fed. also because the economy can undertake it. also given as commodity prices stay elevated, we expect the economy to benefit. >> plenty to watch. eddie chain, great having you with us. -- eddie chang -- some stories we are watching and japan. we will get their current account balance for november in a few minutes. do watch out for those numbers. the central bank governor also to make a speech at the boj. we are washing asahi and other biotech stocks after the u.s. limited coverage of --. in south korea, korea samsung biologics could also move on the u.s. decision as it is also a biogen supplier.

korean air says it is deferring plain deliveries from airbus and boeing due to the pandemic and production delays for manufacturers. also, we had the jobless rate come in slightly higher than expected. 3.8% was the number for december, higher than estimates of 3.2%. haidi: up next, a barrage of payment deadlines looms. we follow the chinese property sectors most distressed firms. this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: investors bracing for a fresh wave of volatility in china's credit markets as payment deadlines loom for the property sector firms. for the latest, let's bring in ava mangel. -- stephen engle. more bills for the property sector. what are we talking about this time? >> big bills. not only in bonds, but by the end of the month, they need to pay deferred wages as mandated by the chinese government ahead of the lunar new year and the olympics. they do not want migrant workers who have not paid protesting. the deadlines are mounting for

these distressed property developers to the tune of 1.42 billion dollars in bond payments this week alone. a total that bloomberg calculated. 197 billion dollars worth of bond payments, trust payments and deferred wages. the bulk of that due this month. let's begin with the poster child of this latest indebtedness, evergrande seeking to avoid its first default of an onshore bond when holders vote thursday, tomorrow, whether to allow the firm to deferred payment. it's -- needs a majority to approve its proposal to postpone a deadline on a $4.5 billion you on by. that payment was due january 8. authorities have delayed once. it has been labeled a default or on its dollar bond. it is facing obvious continued pressure as it is the most indebted developer.

-- has been a roller coaster ride for what was once until recently considered one of the healthier private developers in china. sure mao, which has its onshore units that -- needs to service some 376 million dollars in an upcoming bond payment to this week including a 6.9 million u.s. dollar coupon due thursday, tomorrow. sources say its onshore units will set aside funds for another commitment due saturday. like evergrande, their liabilities and obligations to pay are mounting as well. the last one i will talk about his -- properties. according to the company, and sources, it is set to avoid default by buying back a dollar bond originally due thursday. thursday seems to be a big d-day for debt payments. it is also extending repayments on the rest of that. i am just scratching the

surface. the -- these companies have is mounting. haidi: new -- keeps popping up, like china's first nonstate operated bank. what is going on here? >> i've been looking at them for quite a while now. it has -- the stock was hammered in 2021. you can look at a chart comparing the bloomberg world bank index of a hundred 55 major banks around the world. it is the worst performer among them. if you see the comparison over the last year. that bank is a privately run bank, the first privately run bank in china to counter servicing the needs and the private sector whereas the big state-owned banks service largely state owned enterprises. it made an ill-fated push, in hindsight, into the properties

sector. it is already one of the biggest casualties of this real estate debt crisis in china. let me look at these numbers, 130 billion yuan. that's 20 billion u.s. dollars of exposure to high-risk developers including one of its largest, evergrande. that equals 27% of its tier one capital. the most among chinese let under -- lenders. according to analysts, it could take years to unwind this and get back into better health. the incoming chairman in june, who came over from a state run bank, he came over from bank of china, he is vowing corporate governance will switch from shortsightedness to long-term is impaired his words. -- long-term-ism. his words. haidi: we will continue to watch for that. we do have japan payments

balance numbers coming through, narrowing from the october number of 1.1 ¥1 trillion. we see that number for november narrowing to -- there. we are continuing to watch for the trade balance numbers as well. the surplus coming in at ¥897.3 billion. much more to come. this is bloomberg. ♪

funny -- >> -- may establish a wealth management unit in china to sell mutual funds to retail investors. the bankers have already worked on a feasibility study with a consulting firm and the plan is now under management review. the move would make -- the first foreign bank to fully own a wealth manager in china. citigroup is planning to bind up assets in mexico where it has its largest network in the world. ceo jane fraser says the exit could make the fort -- take the form of a sale or some other alternative subject to reglet. approval. the city is overhauling its strategy and plans to exit 13 other markets across asia and

europe to focus on more lucrative businesses. life insurance corporation is set to be preparing for the nation's biggest ever listing. sources tell us the state run insurer will file its perspective in the final week of january, putting on track to list by march. uber reported in september they are looking to sell a 5% to 10% stake for as much as $135 billion. shery: here are some stocks we should be watching at the open in japan and south korea. ms. duco -- local media reports the bank may push up its ceo replacement plants to february. the u.s. -- also limited of biogen's alzheimer's drug. crafton also one to watch after suing apple and google over copyrights tied to its battlegrounds game. sk innovation, reports of a fire at one of its korean facilities.

coming up, ing says soa's are retaking center stage as the core of china's economy. we talked to ken wong about why he favors the yen in the rest of his market outlook. the market opens in tokyo next. this is bloomberg. ♪

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shery: welcome to daybreak: asia. haidi: asia's major markets have just opened for trade. our top stories this hour. asian stocks are set to follow a bounce in the u.s. after jay powell premises to tackle inflation to extend the economic expansion. other fed policymakers say they are ready to act.

inflation is in focus and a china. set to show producer and consumer prices the pressure is moderating. shery: broad gains for markets across japan and south korea at the open. the nikkei being higher by energy and materials stocks. we are seeing the japanese yen under slight pressure against the u.s. dollar after continuing to gain ground for the past week. 10 year also hovering at the highest level since february. we did get that current account surplus and a coming for the month of november at a positive number of 897. we continue to watch the south korean market as well. gains of 9/10 of 1%. extending those gains from the previous session as well. the korean yuan is gaining ground against the u.s. dollar. extending those gains from the weakest levels since july of

2020. let's look at south korea. we are talking about south korea's unemployment numbers. coming in this morning at three point 8%, which was higher than estimates. perhaps give it more labor force participation and hiring, we have seen more than 770,000 jobs added from the previous year. haidi: let's take a look at how this is playing out when it comes to the australian market. that bounce back following on track of the recovery gains we sell any the u.s. snapping the two days of losses, we are seeing some pretty nice gains when it comes to trading in australia being led by some of these tech stocks. seeing the likes of after pay clearing a key with latoya hurdle in spain. we are watching cba as we get news of this potential sale playing out for cba's business.

when it comes to the aussie dollar, a little bit of a giveback. we have seen some strength when it comes to the aussie as well as some of the other commodity links on the back of the fall of the u.s. dollar. front and center is what happens at the fed chaired the messaging from jerome powell. he has pledged to do what other -- whatever is necessary to contain the inflation surge. take a listen. >> we and all other mainstream forecasters forecasted that by now we would be seeing much lower inflation. that is not what happened. the economy no longer needs or wants the very highly accommodative policies we have had in place to deal with the pandemic and the aftermath. we will be normalizing policy, meaning we will end our asset purchases in march meeting will be raising rates over the course of the year. if we have to raise interest rates more over time, we will.

at some point later this year, we will allow the balance sheet to run off. it is time for us to begin to move away from the emergency pandemic settings to a normal level. it is a long road to normal from where we are. haidi: more fed officials have added their support for a march rate hike. let's bring our global economics and policy editor kathleen hays. more of the fed colleagues seeing a march lift off. not him. kathleen: i think part of it is he was not pressed by the members of the senate banking committee to get that specific. i think he satisfied all the concerns they have about the political pressures will face maybe later this year in the congressional midterm elections that are going to be full of people who are angry about high inflation in the u.s. leave it to jay powell to wait until after the january merely -- january meeting.

let's start with what the president of the cleveland fed speaking exclusively to bloomberg television today, she does think there is a lot of uncertainty around the pandemic at the economy is in good place. it is time to recalibrate the fed's position on inflation. she does see a march rate hike. let's listen to what she said. >> the economy in march looks like it does today at the outlook is similar but if it does, i would support moving the rate up at that meeting and starting to move back from some of the extraordinary accommodation we needed earlier in the pandemic. kathleen: in that last thing she said, the extreme airy stimulus, it sounds like she is referring to the fed's decision on reducing its balance sheet much more quickly. they be not too long after the march lift off. rafael bostick also speaking today. he is getting ready to cap inflation by queuing up a rate hike for march. esther george, president of the

kansas city fed spoke much more specifically about this whole question of reducing the balance sheet and doing it sooner than they did in the past cycle after the great financial crisis. she thinks it is important to start reducing that extraordinary stimulus. i would look to finalize this by saying the bottom line is we have a fed signaling clearly they are not just thinking about raising rates. they are going to do the first one soon. they are looking at reducing the balance sheet more quickly. these are all steps to fight inflation. sharad brown, who is the head of the senate banking committee and told bloomberg he does think it is an easy vote to get jay powell into the next four year term. shery: our global economics and policy editor kathleen hays. let's turn to our next guest who sees a slower path of tightening and prefers young kid asian equity portfolio specialist at

east spring investments. great to have you with us. is this the attractive valuations why you are preferring ems at this port -- this point? >> that and the fact we look at overall interest rates within the em market particularly here in asia. we think they are more attractive this year. particularly also like we mentioned earlier, valuations are much more compelling. given overall em asian markets have underperformed relative to developed markets like the u.s. and europe. we think in 2022, they're going to be more opportunities. you have to be selective still. shery: where in all of those divergent emerging markets? we also have the world bank today downgrading some of the growth forecasts given the uneven recovery we are seeing globally. >> you can't picture or focus

purely on growth. with strong economic growth, that does not mean stockmarkets will go up. as a result, while there are more done with revisions in terms of economic growth, we feel that with better prospects and with opportunities within the em markets and looking at where valuations are, that is where we see the opportunity for this year. places like china giving the underperformance this year and potentially our belief that some of the regulatory concerns are probably the most intense ones. that could lead to better prospects for china in 2022. haidi: i want you to take a look at this chart that shows we are off to a pretty strong year.

when it comes to commodity price action as well, still the outperformer when you take a look at cross asset performance. we also continue to see battery, metals purity see that -- battery, metals. does it mean that return will benefit as well? >> we feel we are only two weeks into the new year and potentially they are some of the more speculative orchards going on. as a result, it is too early to say. the focus still very much will be on valuation. the focus specifically on -- this is kind of where our mindset is at the moment. we think there are going to be opportunities in 2022. you have to piece quite -- yet to be quite selective. -- you have to be quite split --

haidi: i want to take you to our question of the day, which doesn't relate to the previous question. the question of the day from our mliv log is how much will esg affect markets? they are one of the negative trends are identified. to the opportunities and risks as we see the sluggish recovery in china meaning that esg themes are subordinated to the main task of stability and recovery? >> esg continues to be a growing seem and 2022 -- a growing theme and 2022 with more equity trends going to the -- there is going to be even more funds have a much more focus on the st. the one risk -- on esg. the one risk everyone is chasing, that potentially dilute some of the opportunities. we think in the medium to

long-term, there is -- there is more of a focus on environmental and social, which are much more in line with core beliefs. those companies should provide better returns for shareholders. this is very much a growing theme and it is only here to stay. in places like china, we feel for the next two years, there is going to be a lot more pickup. we see that already with the government and regulators having more focus specifically on the social part. more specifics in regards to providing more disclosures in regards to their regulations for their companies. these are all things which will continue to happen moving forward. haidi: asian equity portfolio specialist at east spring investments. let's get to vonnie quinn with the first word headlines. vonnie: the world bank has cut

its global growth forecast as covid cases surge pit gdp expending by four point 1% in 2022 versus previous estimates for 4.3% rise. what excites diminished policy support and supply chain issues. goldman sachs has lowered its productive gdp growth for china to 4.3 percent this year given the difficulty of constraining the omicron variant. china is locking some flights from the u.s. -- is blocking some flights from the u.s. american airlines says at least six of its flights have been barred. reuters reports of u.s. flights are among 60 beijing has canceled after passengers tested positive for covid upon arrival. european union regulators are warning frequent covid-19 booster shots could adversely affect the immune system should the european medicine agency

says it could eventually weaken people's immune systems. they went more time between booster programs. israel has already begun a fourth dose program with 400,000 people getting the jab. philippine stock trading will move back amid the surge in covid cases. trading will close at 1:00 p.m. infections have taken a turn for the worst in recent weeks. when i'm five -- one in five bank branches are closed. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. shery: take a look at some of the stocks that are moving over in japan. falling as much as 4.5% to paring back at of those losses. this after the u.s. limited coverage of partner biogen's alzheimer's drug.

we are watching mcdonald's japan dropping to the lowest in five weeks. the company is going to russian fries because of shipment delays. we are watching a japanese maker of salad dressing. they missed income forecasts and estimates. there guidance not making analysts happy at this point. -- their guidance not making analysts happy at this point. [talking over each other] haidi: if it was up to me, mayonnaise would not exist. my mother is obsessed with that brand. we are watching mining stocks. not nearly as delicious. lots of stories going on when it comes to the commodities. nickel hitting the nine-year

high. this is an extension of the big ev green energy theme carrying on from last year. we are seeing ozzie's dog's rebounding as we get the money c-shares listed. -- we get the mining shares listed. we are also watching some of the issues going on with it. hopefully seeing more of a resolution. we still have lots of data to get through and a lot of them are inflation and price pressure related. in china, the virus outbreaks casting some doubt. we are waiting afraid the cpi numbers. they are expected to have seen a moderation pin we will speak to ing pin -- seen a moderation.

we will speak to ing. we have details on what is one of the biggest casualties of the real estate turmoil today. this is bloomberg. ♪

haidi: investors are bracing for a fresh wave of volatility in china's credit markets as payments deadlines loom. let's bring out stephen engle who joins us in hong kong. what kind of bills are we talking about here? >> big bills.

i am used to that in my household but not what these developers need to pay. bond payments alone in january are more in january than the previous two months combined. on top of that, you have obligations to play preferred wages. a billion dollars. i should say. that the government is mandating these develop his pay by the end of the month ahead of the lunar new year holiday and the beginning of the winter olympics. there are a lot of ills do. $1.42 billion in bond payments this week alone. let's begin with the poster child of the indebtedness of the property sector. evergrande is seeking to avoid its first default on an onshore onto this week one holders are due to vote tomorrow, thursday on whether to allow the firm to defer payment and has already been postponed. there is a payment due january

8. they want to extend this deadline by another six months. they need a majority to get that. the onshore unit of china evergrande. an onshore bond default would be ominous indeed for this company. let's change the page and talk about what was once considered the more economically viable and healthy of the property developers. it is in trouble with it it's -- with its indebtedness. on onshore units needs to service some $376 million in up bond payments this week including a $6.9 million coupon do thursday pit -- coupon due thursday. sources say its unit has set aside funds to pay another bond maturity saturday with outstanding principal of some 300 million u.s. dollars. good news and bad news on that

front. some investors say failure as a whole could potentially because it was long considered a healthy borrower and with investment grade until recently, a default or this crisis could potentially -- a failure could potentially be a bigger risk the credit market than the crisis at china evergrande. we are going to have to watch closely. let's talk about r and f. perhaps and other future problems looping at this company. problem looming at this -- at this company. looming at this company. shery: stephen engle. let's turn to another casualty of the property sector crisis in china and turned to charlie. what is going on?

>> when it was set up in the 1990's, it was considered the future of chinese banking because it is not state-controlled. it is set up by a bunch of privately owned companies. the risk control is better than state banks. there considered state cashiers -- they are considered state cashiers. in recent years, the aggressive expansion into the property sector has gotten it into trouble. the company has too much lending to the property sector. at the end of june last year, the company had a total of more than 400 billion yuan to the industry. and to evergrande alone, the exposure exceeded -- was nearing

$30 billion. evergrande is on the brink of a massive debt restructuring. haidi: so what are they doing to potentially rescue themselves? >> the company just brought in a new chairman from bank of china. the chairman at the last shareholders meeting has promised to clean up the mess. what they are doing at the moment according to people familiar, what we heard from our sources, the company is trying to revamp its property leading business. reducing property debt holdings peered at the same time, trying to cut costs. some executives may be facing a pay cut of 50%. shery: the shanghai bureau chief on the latest on the casualty. this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: we are tracking the fallout of the global supply chain crunch. european union government will launch a large-scale simulation of cyberattacks later this week against multiple member states. participants will be confronted with attacks on their supply chains. before having to coordinate public medications and eight double medical response. 2022 has not started off as we had hoped. that is the message from a shipping giant to its customers. supply chain issues are continuing into 2022 with problems at several ports and gateway terminals.

an industry trade group in the u.s. is plagued with trucker shortages this year. the industry is short about 80,000 drivers even as pay has jumped. haidi: time for a taste of chocolate. cocoa futures are valuing the commodity touching a two month high on tuesday. a researchers says sales are climbing more than 5% a quarter and demand is staying strong as the omicron variant sweeps across the globe. we are seeing signs of tightening supplies as ivory coast is sending fewer cocoa beans. we are seeing certified stockpiles at u.s. ports following for the past 17 weeks. down more than 20% from a peak last year.

bloomberg's terminal users can read more about those stories in our newsletter. shery: we are seeing broad gains every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just $30 per line per month when you get four lines or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities.

>> looking ahead in the context of the end of a double continuing emergence of new variants, the importance of developing a pen coronavirus vaccine, namely one that would be effective against all sars-cov-2 variants and against all coronaviruses becomes even more apparent. shery: chief medical advisor anthony fauci speaking before the senate. china has blocked some flights from the u.s. stepping up its measures against imported

covid-19 cases. the action is the latest kovel between washington and beijing overflights between the countries. hong kong is expanding its flights. yvonne man joins us with the latest. another blow to the aviation industry. yvonne: we are still trying to tell you up how many flights have been impacted by this order from chinese aviation regulators. at least six according to american airlines flights to china from the u.s. have been canceled. we also heard from united airlines saying their route from san francisco to shanghai, they had to cancel six days of flights at the end part of january. this is a popular route that makes four trips a week usually. we had seen these flights among 60 according to reuters, 60 flights between china and the u.s. that have been ordered to be canceled because passengers tested positive for covid after arriving in the country.

as china bottles the latest outbreak. these dispute as tensions rise between u.s. and china. both sides are engaged in talks when it comes to these new changes on aircraft cleaning requirements. there also dealing with the ever-changing pandemic restrictions as well. we did see in december that dispute did lead to one delta flight having to return back to seattle. this is another pressure when it comes to the u.s. carriers. we heard from lobbying groups saying the implications of this move from china is concerning to them. they are communicating with the u.s. and chinese governments on trying to talk about a path forward in trying to minimize the impact on travelers and continue to assess the impact when it comes to the operations. hong kong as well, we saw an expansion of these flight

bans. if you are flying from a designated high risk nation, you are not allowed to transit through the hong kong international airport. this is an extension of what we heard last week of hong kong banning flights from eight countries including the u.s., u.k. and canada. what we heard was this is going to be going on starting this weekend until the end of mid february -- until mid february so the end of the lunar holiday. so potentially some planes could be disrupted -- some plans could be disrupted. perhaps the biggest bombshell for parents yesterday was that school is canceled for primary schools. carrie lam, the chief executive, saying this was not an easy decision to be made good what prompted -- was to not an easy decision to be made. what prompted it was young children were being infected by covid-19. my whatsapp groups were allk

talking about this yesterday. these are som of the strictest restrictions we have seen in hong kong reimposed despite seeing only a cluster of cases so far. carrie lam did talk about how maybe some more support measures could become in to help businesses to mitigate the effects of these draconian measures. haidi: yvonne man with the latest in hong kong. all of these measures and tightening restrictions come as we are expecting china's inflation data from december in just about an hour. joining us for a preview is a greater chinese economist. let me throughout this chart that gives you the overhead view of what we are exciting from the consumer price. looking to call in this latest data set. it is a sign government measures to increase energy supplies as well as the food price element that this is

starting to make its mark. >> you are right. comes from the government measures. for example, we have controlled energy prices, coal prices as well. and for cpi, this is affected by the park price from last year. -- the pork price from last european we see slightly -- from last year. we see slightly lower numbers. for china, there is no inflation pressure at the moment. haidi: a very straightforward question. how much risk derives from the

covid zero strategy from china? >> i think covid zero has imposed a lot of social distancing measures. even within china, it is restrictive. let's not forget china is a big population country. hospital capacity could not allow the covid outbreak to be massive. the whole hospital system could collapse and non-covid patients could not be treated. i really think that for such state population countries with not massive hospital capacity,

this is not a bad choice. shery: how much will it weigh on growth? we continue to see more down growth for economic forecasts in china. >> we see a slower economic growth in china because of the direction set by xi jinping. but also -- the forecast is around 5% from the gdp on the year on year basis. we have to add back some of that. these extra covid measures use

extra labor. moving labor from one industry into the covid prevention industry. shery: what about the property sector? we continue to get signals perhaps the government wants to consolidate this pace. we are already headed for another record year of default. what would that mean for the credit market? >> for the credit market, it means default is ongoing. those who have defaulted, they will continue to default until there is -- that also means the right off for m&a is going to be harsh. it will be like a market pressure. 17% right off and then it might even push earlier to happen.

after the m&a, we have to remember the so-called quality developers, they also need cash to complete the activities. the cash should be barred by -- should be barred by banks and increase the leverage. the high quality real asset developers will become medium quality in terms of their -- >> greater china economist. we continue to see these measures not only under the property sector but the tech sector as well. the authorities trying to tamp down on the bubbles and risks. is all being a part of the common prosperity drive. we are hearing from bridgewater associates ray dalio the u.s. should learn a thing or two

about fairness, talent and redistribution of wealth. haidi: this is ray dalio's playbook. we have documented and dug deep into his history, his fascination with china. china is one of rich waters biggest clients. -- one of bridgewater's biggest clients. he has been a controversial booster of china's policies. saying xi jinping's push to redistribute wealth and opportunities allows the economy to draw upon a wider talent pool. ray dalio saying that at an investment group conference monday. saying that campaign is often misunderstood by international investors and he said you were supposed to get rich and then you make a point of distributing

those opportunities. the u.s. needs more prosperity. ray dalio going out to point out what he sees as some of the positives about chinese government policy. shery: really quite the break from other big investors. george soros has criticized china's policies not to mention scott minerd calling china at one point uninvestable. let's turn to vonnie quinn with the first word headlines. vonnie: chair powell has pledged to do what is necessary to contain an inflation surge. he steered clear of giving fresh details. his remarks to his senate confirmation hearing were more guarded than some of his colleagues who have openly been calling for the fed to start raising rates in march. > if we see inflation persisting at high levels longer than expected, then if we have to raise interest rates more overtime, we will.

we will use our tools to get inflation back to vonnie: more fed officials backing interest rates soon and accelerating normal acceleration of the balance sheet. raphael bostic full bloomberg news the central bank may need to consider an increase in march and start reducing its balance sheet soon after lift off. the cleveland fed wrote on policy this year and also backs a potential hike at this time. jamie dimon says he is seeing huge pressure on wages for the first time in his life. the jp morgan head told foxbusiness businesses will be forced to deal with the rising price of labor. he added the situation is not as bad as other potential scenarios such as high unemployment. average hourly earnings in the united states rose more than expected last month. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. on vonnie quinn. this is bloomberg.

haidi: coming up next, bitcoin is stabilizing but the dreadful start to the new year is continuing after dipping below 40,000. the outlook is just ahead. this is bloomberg. ♪

shery: a look now at some of the calls from a billionaire money manager. he focused on signs the u.s. economy could be weakening saying the recessionary pressure is building. he thinks the fed will be forced to stop hiking at 1.5% is bearish on the dollar and says the nasdaq's outperformance is over. take a look at how markets are trading. muted gains for the u.s. s&p. this after we sell those gains in the new york session for the first time in six days. the nikkei and the kospi getting more than a percent each and reversing those losses we saw on the japanese equity market. we are also talking about almost every sector being in the green with the nikkei as well. the korean yuan is strengthening

against the u.s. dollar and coming off the weakest level since july of 2020. we see broad risk on across markets. bitcoin under pressure but still above the 42,000 level. we had seen a little bit of a rebound in the new york session. let's actually take a look at the crypto space because prices have stabilized in the past few hours. it has been up and down. it has been a rough ride in the new year. su keenan joins us with the latest. that death cross could hit at any point. su: managed to avoid this ominous pattern for another day. we looked at the way bitcoin and rivals are trading at this moment could there is green on the screen and it looks like this asset class has risen along with stocks on fed chairman jay powell's remarks during his

confirmation hearing. it is hard to realize that for bitcoin no above 42,000, it jumped below 40,000 on of the past 24 hours, which puts it up 40% below its november high. you can see it is moving a little under but drop into the one week declines and you will see they are all double digits for bitcoin, for ethereum and so that shows it has been a rough week. both bitcoin and the theory him -- and ethereum have faced a pattern whenever an assay drops below its 200 day moving average and what it tends to indicate is downward momentum ahead. those who follow the technicals as they apply to bitcoin have said it has been a murky signal in recent years. no surprise that coin reacting

to a lot of the macro developments. it really soared in the past year and a half where the fed has poured into liquidity -- poured liquidity into the market because of the pandemic. some have said it has been a buying opportunity. not clear if that is the case here. haidi: we also heard from fed chair powell himself. he had a few things to say about crip no. su: he did mention it is possible of the privately issued stable coins could coexist with a possible fed issued digital dollar. he was testifying again before lawmakers at his confirmation hearing and said the fed is preparing a report on digital currencies to come out in the next weeks that answers these key questions whether the fed will issue its own coin. it has been a question that has been hanging over the crypto market.

that is important because stable coins are viewed as critical in the market. many investors use them to buy and sell other coins. the fed and other central banks indicated stable coins need more regulation. it will be very interesting to see what that report comes out with. as you look at the rise and fall of bitcoin, you can see why many investors are say this is likely to be a volatile year perhaps to six see the last one. notably j.p. morgan chase pulled it's -- j.p. morgan chase polled its customers. you're looking at a brand new grayscale index. fo f stands for future of finance and what it does is it gauges the rise and fall of crypto related stocks and a lot of other assets that have come

back including blockchain related etf's have come back with the rise and fall of bitcoin over the last 24 hours. haidi: su keenan with the latest in bitcoin. coming up next on daybreak asia, chinese property stocks would be a key focus when we get to the open in shanghai and hong kong. we have a barrage of loan payment deadlines coming due. we will be getting you a preview next. this is bloomberg. ♪

haidi: a quick of the latest headlines. life insurance corporation of india is preparing for what could be the nations biggest ever listing. it will file its ipo perspective in the final week of january. putting it on track to list by march. bloomberg reported in september the indian government was looking to sell a five to 10% stake for as much as $135 billion. informal talks with the hong kong stock exchange about a listing. the process includes a feasibility requirement. the exchange is said to want

didi to be compliant and a 70 to 80% of china's guest cities. -- china's biggest cities. shery: we're just over a half hour away from the open in china. let's bring in david for a preview. so much to watch out for including inflation numbers. we are reading the latest virus numbers out of hunan -- we are giving the latest virus numbers out of hunan. what we be focusing on yucca david: since you entered the virus story, the latest updates not just on the mainland but the increasing by the day measures the government is putting in place here in hong kong will be one item on the agenda. china reopening the border with vietnam. that is going to go into the lockdown story. as far as markets go, some strength coming through on the chinese currency. it is looking like we might get the bounce today in equity markets.

csi 300 closed at an august low. the other thing is the losing strict we are seeing on the chi next. we might see that change today. obviously the inflation numbers you alluded to. we are expecting a moderation on the consumer price and producer price. we will get that in 30 minutes from now. haidi: private property shares have been rallying hard. is this the kind of state owned element coming through? >> if you are referring to the national team, who knows? there is no way of really directly pointing to that? certainly a symptom should certainly the debate in the market. price is up 15% on the property cage. the debate is whether it is a short squeeze and really if there is some value to be had within that index itself.

we will continue to watch that as far as the gauge is concerned. two or three more days, we are going to be entering a technical bull market. you take a look at the longer-term view of this group of stocks. we are down 50 from the 2018 high. tech with a massive pump up. back to you guys. haidi: lots going on. coming up, we are focused on the u.s. inflation numbers that are due out on wednesday. we do have the china cpi and ppi numbers out as well. we're getting some of the updates when it comes to covid cases pit seven new locally confirmed covid cases. china adding covid cases on

january 11. 180 of those in henan province. -- in hunan province. we're looking ahead to the start of trading in hong kong, shanghai and shenzhen. ♪

♪ >> good morning. it's 9:00 in hong kong. welcome to bloomberg markets china open. we are counting down to the open of trade on the chinese mainland. yvonne: our top stories this morning. >> if we see inflation persisting at high levels longer than expected, then