01/10/2014 Asia Business Report

Alice disappeared just over a month ago. Now on BBC News all the latest

business news live from Singapore. Hong Kong's on brother revolution is

set to swell, retailers brace for a dip in national holiday sales. And a

pickup in business confidence among manufacturers in Japan. Thank you

for joining us. Hong Kong's stock exchange is closed

this Wednesday, perhaps a welcome break after two days of losses

triggered by pro`democracy protest concerns. Speculation is growing

whether Beijing will impose economic pressure to put a lid on the

protesters' campaign. For more about the response I spoke to a managing

director in Hong Kong. Economic sanctions, they are one way,

hypothetically, that the mainland could increase pressure on Hong Kong

to get some movement to come to a negotiated settlement. There is a

lot of talk that China could remove its 50% retail luxury tax which

would hurt the flood of tourists to the city. The last round of protests

against anti` subversion legislation that was one of the rumours that

went around. That the public tried tourists in relation to the luxury

tax on the mainland, was something that was tabled. Hypothetically the

mainland could look at decreasing that which would stem the flow of

tourism and retail purchases in Hong Kong. Any kind of economic pressure

and sanctions could undermine Hong KongKong's status. And China needs

Hong Kong is also Bella they have made a statement that Hong Kong is

the golden goose. Here in Hong Kong we would be concerned about the

growing probability of an international board in Chennai. ``

international bourse. With the Hong Kong stock exchange, China is

putting Hong Kong forward effectively as the international

bourse. `` ``Shanghai.. The euro will become the sixth major

currency which can be exchanged directly for the yuan in Shanghai.

This is just another step to make China's currency more widely

available outside China. It already has agreements with America, UK,

literally at Japan, so the euro is an obvious partner. `` Australia.

The Hong Kong dollar is at a six`month low against the greenback,

could we eventually see the unpicking of the Hong Kong currency

against the US dollar? I doubt it. Hong Kong has been through the

turmoil before. They are trying to break the linkage between the Hong

Kong dollar and the US dollar. But Hong Kong is resilient. It will be

able to maintain that no matter what.

Business confidence among manufacturers in Japan has improved

since 2/4. There has been a pickup in the three months till September.

`` 2/4. There has been a small bounce. The drop in nonmanufacturing

conference told you that the rise in sales tax that we had a few back has

hurt the economy more than people expected. As we can see, there is a

double edged sword for the weakening Japanese yen against the US dollar.

It is a benefit for exporters but not good news for small and medium

prize enterprises. Ashya medium`sized. In many ways a weaker

yen means they have very few options. The yen pushing the lower,

stimulating labour demand and hopefully at some point consumption,

they are pinning their hopes on that I mention. In the second quarter we

say at we saw a contraction in the economy. Could we see a technical

recession, meaning two consecutive quarters of falling economic data.

You may see it. But it is likely that the second quarter was not so

bad. More worrying is the fact that indicators are at lower levels than

they were a year ago. That shows you how much the economy is installing.

And where does the bank of Japan go from here? How could they boost the

economy. They are in trouble. They have very little chance of hitting

their 2% inflation target next year. When they revise the targeting

October they will have to recognise the economy is off track, step up

stimulus and perhaps move into negative interest rates. They need

to try harder. The factory output has gone down in the Pan Am comment.

EBay is planning to split off its payment system, PayPal, into a

separate company. News of the move, which is expected to be completed in

the second half of 2015, sent shares up 7%. Microsoft has disclosed the

first details of its next operating system, Windows can. It will run on

a range of devices including games consoles and phones. `` Windows can.

Hopes are high in India that a meeting between the Indian prime

minister and Barack Obama will ring significant returns for both

economies. India is counting on US investors for big infrastructure

projects and investors are keen to see Mr Modi cut red tape and combat

corruption. This report from Washington.

New York was about showcasing brand India and brand Modi. Telling

America that India is open for business. In Washington, the effort

was to underscore the common US and Indian values, and a striking up a

chemistry. Security was tight around the White House, as the two leaders

got down to business. Prime minister Modi and President Obama sat

side`by`side and talked on a list of issues, ranging from the Middle East

to Ebola but the economy was central. Last night during our

dinner we spent most of our time talking about the economy. We agreed

that in both countries, one of our primary goals is to improve

education and job training so that our younger people can compete in

the global marketplace. Modi did not shy away from raising issues on

trade disputes, nuclear cooperation and visas, which have dogged the

relationship for some time. TRANSLATION: I also sought the

support from President Obama for service Company is in the US market

that are from India. Experts say it would be miraculous if all these

disputes can be resolved overnight, but the two leaders do seem to have

made a promising start. They have agreed to set up a new agenda to

revive this flagging relationship. While Mr Modi has a strong domestic

economic focus, and the US supports that, it also expects India to be an

effective and strategic partner on global platforms. If the two can fit

both on the same page, that would be called a success.

There has been a jump in sales in China's in cinemas. It is a more

successful the year than 20 13. The best movie so far is Transformers,

the new movie. As we go, a quick look at the markets. The market in

Hong Kong is closed today for China's national holidays. Japan and

Australia is in negative territory. Bye for now.

I'm Mike Embley. The top stories this hour: crowds of protesters are

still on the street in Hong Kong as China's national day