tracey chang has the latest for us in singapore. >> good morning. asian markets opened the week mostly higher on china stimulus hope, but the greater china markets are still showing some softness. the shanghai composite closed the day up about 0.2%. investors briefly cheered by comments and efforts to support growth. briefly seen as beijing's willingness to use more powerful tools. but lingering concerns over a hard landing paired back earlier gains. hang seng down about 0.2%. hea hurt by financials. and the nikkei inched up about 0.3% as the g-8 meeting calmed investors somewhat. the kospi staged a technical rebound. the usaussie market recovered a bit and hopes of more policy easing from beijing. and finally sensex trading up 0.8% at the moment. so mostly positive picture here in asia on this monday. back to you. >> all right. thanks very much indeed for that. and that more policy easing hopes helping commodity plays today, as well. this is where we stand after heavy falls last week. xetra dax down 4.7% last week, cac 40 up about a percent at the

joining us is tracey chang with the update. >> tgi friday. asian markets are showing yet another mixed exhibit. hong kong shares reversed earlier losses. hang seng closed up about a quarter of a percent. but index still retraced more than 50% of its rise from october lows to february highs. and a range nikkei finished about 0.2%. index posted its worst losing streak in 20 years. south korea kospi rebounded about half a percent on bargain hunting. elsewhere, australian shares buckled down to a six month low. led by mining stocks. india sensex also showing weakness. so a lot of lingering pessimism. >> this morning we're asking viewers to send through their ideas for the facebook sequel to the social network. accepted through your ideas on twitter @cnbcwex or @kelly_evans and @rosswestgate. you saw a mockup of what that see cell could lack like. >> and will the film talk about whether there was a prenuptial or not. i've got an idea for the film title. we want to hear yours. also what chinese economic slowdown, paintings up for auction, we'll tak

tra tracey chang is in singapore recapping all the action. >> asian markets are mixed today as the weak hsbc china data weighs on sentiment. the composites about half a percent dragged lower by smaller banks and domestic brokers. hang seng index lost about 0.6%, but the top chinese companies plunged nearly 7%. and moving on to japan, the nikkei bounced back to positive territory after a quick rally in the late afternoon. analysts point to a short recovery and low volume with a lot of uncertainty about the and you are row zone's future still out there. in australia, the 200 turned negative for the year. and last year, i said i can't sensex gaining about 0.7% at the moment led by state run oil companies on the government's move to raise gasoline prices. we should also tell you the endian rupee. take a look at how it's trading now. a hit, fresh record low against the dollar. but overall a mixed picture here in asia. ke back to you you. >> that's the view in asia. we're 6:4, 3:2 decliners outpacing advancers. we did start up this morning after heavy losses yesterday. the german pmis coming

tracey chang explains. >> that's right.ed newspaper says officials and scholars are figuring out if now is the best time for china to free it capital account. this essentially means china should look into lifting capital controls that stop the yuan from being fully convertible. those that are for it say the current market conditions namely volatility in the forex space as china's growth stabilizes makes accepting the yuan more feasible, but those against it say the question is not if it china should open its capital account, but how it should do it. back to you. >> david, comment there on what's happening in china or did you want to pick up on the earlier thought on central banks? >> i think if you look at the problem for the west, we need growth and you need real growth. and if you don't did that, you've got the elements of fracture in our society. and what you see right now is european system isn't driven with fundamental energy of democratic expansion and ongoing wealth. it's interesting watching the korean example you h

tracey chang has the tr tracey. >> thank you. this is still the sixth straight month of contraction. there's still a divergence, like you said, between hsbc's reading and china's official pmi what the reading of 53.3. it focuses more on smaller and private companies while the official index actually surveyed many large and state-owned enterprises. so the differences between these two readings could really reflect the difficulties smaller companies may have accessing credit, therefore, a smaller recovery. but most still expect to free up more lending by cutting the reserve requirement for banks. it bodes well for chinese growth. over to ekta to talk about the bmi in india. >> it came in at 54.9. this indicates there has been an expansion in april as well. anything above 50 indicates an expansion whereas it has also expanded at a faster read or a faefrt pace than april, vis-a-vis, march. now a couple of key points which are highlighted is the output growth has upgraded. capacity remains the same as well as inflation costs have inch

. >> there is fresh evidence that the real estate sector is cooling and tracey chang has more on that >> fell 1.2% in april from a year earlier for him first yearly drop in two years. and as you can see, shares of chinese property developers certainly felt the effect today. home prices still have room to fall even further since the inventory level remains high. a reuters poll shows economists expect residential property prices to slip the rest of 2012. market watchers think it will be hard to reverse unless they provide policy support. the finance ministry 2340u7b8sed a 3 bpt $4 billion package back over to you. >> want to take a quick check now on spanish banks. bankia after sippinging 20 25% yesterday has now rebounded and if you had gotten in just on this one day alone, you would be up 29%. that's not too shabby. of course the bank still trading below two euros there. >> the market is betting on the fact that the stock market regular rate tore will reinstate its balance short selling on financial stocks. it was lifted in february. according to the newspaper, the banks in spain have

tracey chang has all the latest in singapore. >> good morning. the planned rrr cut failed on provide much support to the markets. the nikkei inched higher about 0.2%, lifted by china related shares, but remember, it's still earnings season in japan and investors are being cautious. take a look at the greater china markets. we've had very choppy trading day today. major financials, as well, as property plays were briefly up on the planned rrr cut, with you have given back all the gains we had earlier came. the shanghai composite lost about 0.6%, while the shanghai index moved lower. and elsewhere, us a 2r5australi market is the outperformer today. and over in india, the sensex trading down more than half a%. and this is your picture in asia. back over to you in london. >> well, roubini has laid out his notion the greek exit could take. he says it would be followed by capital controls, deposit freeze, depreciation and a return to growth and job creation. so did do you agree? if you want to join the conversation, get in touch with us by e-mail oir v

let's check in with tracey chang from singapore. >> thank you very much. good morning. well, we're seeing some recovery for the markets in the region. as you can see here. but further up side was limited of course by concerns in greece. take a look at the nikkei 225. gained about 0.9% on the better than expected gdp data. however analysts do not think the upbeat data will alter the central bank's monetary stance. it is widely expected that the boj won't keep its policy unchanged at its meeting next week. and it's trading pretty much flat at the moment after the dollar strengthened about the 80 handle against the yen yesterday. and take a look at the rest of the market. we're showing a pretty much mixed picture. the shanghai composite is another outperformer gaining 1.4%, however the hang seng index and the aussie market slipping a bit on european concerns. so some recovery, but still a lot of caution. >> okay. thanks for that. we'll talk about japan, as well. japan is the las t of the safe haven trade. roman, what's your own thoughts here on what japan is offering inves

tracey chang has all the details on on this move. >> japan's finance minister says the trading relationship will begin june 1st. that's this friday. analysts say the move is aimed at shoring up trade and pnks ties between the two biggest economies. also another baby step toward internationalizing the renminbi. they're using the dollar to set the exchange rate. the deal is a part of a broader financial ties which include japan buy going government debt and efforts to forge a trade pact between china, japan and south korea. you but critics of the direct deal say it doesn't go far enough and won't open up the capital account, just allow the direct to be traded instead of actually increasing flow. back to you. >> and we want to get more thoughts on this from marco. some saying this will encourage a hollowing out. do you agree? >> not really. i agree on one micro effect for sure is that it reduces transactions cost for japanese companies that have productions already in china. it's already a long term trend in the fact that japan industries are looking oversees for better places of where to prod

tracey chang is following that. >> a mixed picture today. the greater china markets closed today on two separate notes. shanghai composite lost about a quarter percent. hang seng snapped it eight day losing streak ending the day up about 0.9%. lifted by large caps such as oil refiners. the nikkei fell about 0.8% to a 3 1/2 month low weighed by exporters after greece struggled to form a coalition government. foreigners continue to sell local stocks for the tenth straight session. aussie market lost about 0.7%. and over in india, the sensex trading in the green at the moment. and here is the trading picture in asia. back over to you. >> thanks for that. now also here in europe, the stronger than expected gdp number. tomorrow we'll wribring you silvia's interview with merkel. >> and speaking of merkel, the press corps is a buzz everyone wants to know who is angela d. merkel, the spoof twitter account. >> do you know who an la d. merkel is? >> if i knew that i would be making so much money on betting right now because this is what's been occupyi

and tracey chang has more. how much worse was this than expectations? of fact china's consumer price level moderated to 3.4% in april. that despite a strong rise in food prices. but the tempered inflation rate and renewed hopes for immediate easing actions from the central bank actually failed to cheer markets. reigniting talks of a possible hard landing for china and continued difficulty in access to loans has led to a softening in fixed asset investment, as well, while retain sales also underperformed market expectations. factory output rose by 9.3% in april compared with march 11.9% sharply under performing expectations as cooling demand at home and abroad was a drag on growth. analysts say this is particularly concerning given the disappointing trade data we got yesterday. crack jackie, over to you. >> and coming up next, we'll get a fresh snapshot on the u.s. economy with data on inflation and the consumer. plus a top fed official weighs in on the thorny you issue of too big to fail. ♪ ♪ why do you whisper, green grass? ♪ [ all ] shh! ♪ why tell th

. >>> over in china, tracey chang has more details. >> they will shorten the license's aproovlg process institutional investors. now, among the steps the security's regulators wants to take easing application document requirements, speeding up approv approvals, lowers their lower minimum qualification level, allowing more into the program to expand its scope as well as clarifying the income tax policies. now, since the beginning of this year, the state administration and foreign exchange has approved more than $3.5 billion in owe tas for 28 overseas institutions and the china's securities regulatory commission says it's granted licences to more than five investment firms paving the way to invest. back over to you, christine. >> thank you very much for that. now let's get some reaction from virginie. will they be attracting capital? >> i think as part of the long-term picture of the deregulation of the capital account in china, we've seen many different parts of the puzzle, the enlargement of the ban, the usage of the batter currency, the fact that japan has quite a significant part. cle

and he is been released on bail and tracey chang has been following the details. >> this piece of news the investigation which includes the previous arrests of walter's brothers as well as a former hong kong official. the eldest brother of the family was ousted as chairman back in 2008, he applied to the high court on prevent the board from removing him alleging that his brothers opposed his inquiries in into the way the country awarded construction contracts. t bribery focuses on payments totally more than $2.5 million to hong kong's number two government official before and after his time in the office. so far all parties involved have denied any wrongdoing. of course shares ended down 1.8%, the stock has lost more than 15% about of its value since the investigation began back in march. back over to you. >> thank you so much for that. and that would he louisa, international implications, as well. it's fascinating because i heard that there is also a huge project over your way. >> yes, indeed. and i wouldn't be doing "worldwide exchange" justice if i didn't mention this and highlight

tracey chang is here to tell us about one firm's billion dollar ambitions. >> that's right, let's focus on the bigger picture first. today the shanghai composite escaped the bloody bath, investors are cautious ahead of the release of april's key economic data friday. mainland china markets of course closed the day flat while the hang seng suffered big losses down about 2.6%. the equity market down about 20% so far it year compared to last year. market watchers say still remain strong for companies who have healthy fundamentals. london based jeweler graft diamonds said to take advantage of china's soaring high end consumer market and the company started engaging investor interest for its planned ipo ahead of the official listing in hong kong likely early june. analysts say successful ipo not only allows graff to raise, but it enables to have a advantage of attractive valuations of the high end retailers. hong kong has become a go-to destination for luxury ip ocos. prada stock has gained 30% since its ipo last june. back to you. >> thank you very much. louisa. >>> just to recap, if you're

. >>> they're prolonging greek credit growth is spiking cause for the eaa tracey challenge chang hasy issued for loans at all. it expends the country's growth and greece's concern over loan demand as well as a squeeze on deposits. some analysts say it's, quote, too little too late saying more powerful easing tools are needed but it doesn't look like the government is ready to play aggressive just yet. just today the vice chairman of the banking watchdog said there's no plan to challenge the loan-to-deposit ratio as of now but he did say regulators are watching the volatility and they're playing as well as the newspaper is mulling over a research team to look over interest rate liberalization. back to you, ross. >> thanks, tracey. >>> we want to bring david roche back into this conversation. david, you just heard tracey's comments. what do you think they can do? can they ultimately promote fiscal stimulus? >> it's very interesting really. for starter, i had the imprelgs drks of course, i am a foreigner and all the rest. there's this famous bowl affair which may have been much closer t