07/02/2014 Asia Business Report

expect more than an inch of rainfall overnight. Now on BBC News all the

latest business news live from Singapore.

As the US gets set to release its latest job numbers today, we find

out what it means for Asia. How one Japanese carmaker is taking

the most of India's green car market. -- growing. Looking Asia

Report. We start with the world's largest economy, where there was

better economic news. Applications for US unemployment benefits fell

for the first time as workers retain their jobs. Jobless claims dropped

by 20,000. There will be more figures later today which will give

us America's latest numbers and a closer look at the nation's economic

recovery. It will be a busy day for politicians in Washington, who will

also be talking about raising the debt ceiling. Earlier I spoke to a

chief economist to ask about America's economic recovery and its

importance to us. It is very important. The data in the US has

not been strong. The durable goods orders and housing data. There is?

About whether the US economy is starting to stall, at a time about

when emerging markets have become more viable. It is important that

the payroll number is a decent number. Otherwise there will be more

questions about whether the US economy is stalling. He mentioned

the key emerging markets. We saw a stock sell-off earlier this week.

You are fairly optimistic about the chances. There is too much media

hype at the moment about this emerging market sell-off. One thing

is that currencies in Asia have been adjusted since April last year. They

have moved a lot. They are turning around trade positions in Thailand,

India, Indonesia, it is happening. Asia's fundamentals and others bad

as they were back during the Asian crisis. Most countries still have

current-account surpluses, huge reserves, more flexible currencies.

I think this is really a blessing in disguise. Investors focusing on the

risk in emerging markets is pressuring policymakers in Asia to

get there houses in order. We are seeing that in Asia, interest rate

hikes. We are not too bad up on Asia. Thank you.

In other news, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp have posted

better-than-expected profits, despite advertising revenues falling

at the company's newspaper division. Net income came at around $15

million. It was higher than analysts estimate. Falling sales of the

Australian newspapers saw revenue dropped by about 4%. Shares of

LinkedIn, a social networking site for professionals, fell by as much

as 4% after the firm's first forecast fell short. The firm has

forecast revenue of about $2 million from 2014. That is down by about 2

billion. Japanese carmakers have been investing recently. Brand

flexes 80, and their Toyota are contenders in the market. Honda has

climbed to the third place, up from eighth place. At the Delhi auto

show, we spoke to the President and CEO of Honda in India. It is not

affect much. The market is growing. However, he does not mean the market

has disappeared. Customers are waiting for attractive offers. All

the can do is support and supply to customers the best product. The

Indian market is highly skewed towards diesel engines. You had to

make those which recently. How has it worked? The come up with a diesel

engine for the first time. It has had a tremendous response from

customers. You are competing with a well-established giants like

Suzuki. They have dealerships across the country. You are mainly focused

in urban areas. How can you compete? We will have 117 dealers but in the

March -- by the end of March. What is your view on the Indian auto

market? Will the focus remained on smaller cars? More than 50% comes

from smaller cars, hatchbacks. We are sure that it will change to

Saddam 's, SUV 's and the modern market in the future. We expect the

potential of fast growth. You are using India as a production hub, you

export cars to South Africa and other markets. How was it going to

make the start of exports two years ago. The reputation as good. We do

not plan to expand the export numbers sharply. Our forecast is for

Indian market. You can see more of it interviewed on India business

report this Sunday. Shares in Japan's Sony are claiming in trade

after the company sold off its PC division to focus on smartphones and

others. It will cut 5000 jobs and split its TV making Ahmed were

separate company. The restructuring comes as the electronics giant

warned it would lose more than $1 billion this financial year, despite

a forecast of a profit. I spoke with a representative of an investment

bank to ask of this latest news means for the firm. In the

long-term, it is important for them to continue their exit strategy. The

only real comparison is a company building a fantastic base of

existence it. Sony will only find bonanza if it exits. If the consumer

electronics arm is bleeding. A $1 billion loss forecast. That is a

staggering amount, getting rid of its PC and TV businesses. It is not

leave Sony with much. If you look at apple, it does not have too many

products. It is all about focus. Apple is focused on a few products.

It is spectacular. In the case of Sony, they are not focused, they are

doing too many branches. Insurance is one arm, content is another.

Right now, they are not number one or number two. As the economic

recovery continues to be sluggish in many parts of the world, we are

asking whether the increase of the number of women in the workplace is

the answer. One woman in a top position is Christine Lagarde, the

managing director of the IMF. She tells the BBC about her brush with

gender discrimination and the secret to her success. I have succeeded and

I am he were a because I was not aggressive. I relied on teams. They

acknowledged the team and the support that they had given me,

because we worked together. I am not ashamed of saying that. Other types

of management and leadership are fine, but if women can exercise

leadership by being inclusive, by being team minded, by paying back to

the team. If we can contaminate a few male leaders on that page, if we

can contaminate a few of those males who do not succeed in reaching peace

settlements, that is fine. I am prepared to buy for that. The worst

as Commissioner faced, my first interview with the law firm in

Paris. I have qualified on all fronts. The managing partner said to

me, we're giving you job. But don't expect to make partnership. I said,

ways that? He looked at me with contempt. He said, because you are a

woman. That was about 35 years ago. Things have not changed enormously

in many areas. The law firm I lived my life with was not that law firm.

You can catch a lot more of that interview on whether women should be

running the world economy in a special episode of Talking Business

on the World Economic Forum over the weekend. A quick look at the

markets. on the World Economic Forum over the

weekend. A quick look at A huge reversal here. Wall Street gaining

as a result of... Asian stocks are rising. Vindicate rebounding. Most

stocks rebounding from a five-month low.

rising. Vindicate rebounding. Most stocks rebounding from a That is it

for this edition of Asia Business Report.

Headlines: a senior American diplomat has apologised for elite

recording which shows her in salt in the EU. Washington blames Russia for

the leak. The UN has struck a deal