let's get to akiko fujita who's in stoingapore. a lot of expectations the bid would be reduced significantly. >> exactly. and it looks like it's going to be just that. we're getting the details out of the press conference happening right now. coming at a $2 billion discount. when this deal was scheduled to be signed last month, it was estimated to be around $6 billion. now coming in at $3.5 billion. so a significant discount for foxconn. this marks the end of a five-year pursuit. looking at the details of this deal, foxconn announcing they would by common shares after sharp at a 32% discount to tuesday's close. that would be about 88 yen a share. they would by shares of sharp to be swapped into common shares in july of next year. when you combine all of that, foxconn would have a 72% stake in the company. this really is a reversal from what we were expecting last month with that initial deal scheduled to be signed. we saw the stock of sharp move today on speculation that this deal was imminent. sharp coming in around 6:00% higher n

wilfred and sara, back to you. >> akiko, quick question. the shanghai composite has had a stunning rebound from its january lows. we were all worried about china when we began the year. is there a sense that the authorities have managed to take control of the markets and the economy? what's actually fueling the rebound, and is it sustainable? >> well certainly yesterday we saw a big rebound, although we're seeing it end in negative territory today because of the new numbers out over the weekend. industrial profits up as well. then also these measures that the government is taking to basically cool down the housing market as well. there is a sense that the government may finally have a handle on the economy and perhaps that the monetary easing and fiscal policy that was set in place earlier is finally starting to have an effect there. >> akiko, thank you very much for that. what does it all mean for u.s. futures? let's have a quick look at the board. we are called to open higher, although not quite with the same confidence as europeyou'reuro

back to you, nancy. >> thanks for that, akiko.e want to hear your thoughts on what's happening in the asian space. would you be buying the shanghai composite after it's been down 15% on the quarter relative to the positive territory we're now seeing stateside? what do you think about europe here? get in touch. the address is streetsignseurope@cnbc.com. you can also get us directly through twitter. the show handle there is @streetsignscnbc. and tweet me directl directly @nancycnbc. well, still to come here on cnbc, make sure you tune in a bit later today because the canadian prime minister will be joining susan lee on "squawk on the street." that's an exclusive interview starting at 15:30 cet. you certainly don't want to miss that one. >>> good morning and welcome back to "street signs." i'm nancy hulgrave, and these are your headlines. stocks in europe retreat on the last day of the quarter despite a solid session stateside, which saw the dow and s&p hit their highest levels of the year. >>> static on the line. orange and bouygues

>> akiko, thank you very much for that. >>> new fund flow data out this morning. investors pulled $2.1 billion from u.s.-based stock funds in the latest week. money market funds posted $36 billion in outflows, marking the group's largest exit of money in more than two years. >>> new research today finds more hedge funds shut down last year than at any time since the financial crisis. hedge fund research reporting 979 funds liquidated in 2015 as turbulent markets hurt performance. the top 20% of funds by assets received about 80% of new money that came in during the year. 2016 doesn't look any better for the hedge fund industry. hedge funds only received $3 million in new money in february. that compares with 18.6 billion during the same month last year. we talk a lot about bill ackman's problems at pershing square with the valeant trade and a lot of the other hedge funds on that bandwagon, but this is widespread pain for the industry. >> and the theme of the last couple years, which has been really focused on in the first few months this year, is active management

akiko fujita is in singapore with an update. >> good morning to you, wilfred.ou talk about those dovish comments from janet yellen, certainly lifting the markets here in asia as well, along with the weaker u.s. dollar. all major indices in positive territory except for the nikkei. the nikkei below that 17,000 handle, down about 224 points there. new numbers out from factory output weighed on investors there. industrial output falling more than 6% month on month in february. that's the most since 2011 immediately after the triple disasters, the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster in japan. when you combine that number with retail numbers that were out yesterday that showed a more than 2% drop, certainly shaping up to be a very weak start to the year for japan. also in japan, shares of sharp in focus after the company finally signed that deal with foxconn, giving the taiwanese company a two-thirds stake in the struggling electronics maker. that deal valued at $3.5 billion. that's about a billion-dollar discount from that initial deal that was scheduled to b

. >> thanks, akiko. we'll be keeping an eye here to fed chair janet yellen, who's set to deliver a speech at the economic club in new york. stay for cnbc with that one as we take that speech live. >>> joining us now is robin griffiths, chief technical strategist, who said the dow would peak on march 23rd, not just on that date, but just after lunch. robin, a pleasure to have you here. very precise call you made. i hope you had a good lunch before that time. >> exactly. we wouldn't want to ruin lunch. of course, it's when america really opens and starts affecting our markets. >> nevertheless, we did see u.s. markets coming out of the holiday weekend relatively flat yesterday. still, nine days of gains for the dow in the past 11. do you think there's a correction under way here? >> definitely in a bear market now. a normal bear and bull market cycle fits into one presidential election. you tend to get three good years and one bad one. the last bull market lasted double the normal length of time because of