:00:00. > :00:00.expect more than an inch of rainfall overnight. Now on BBC News all the
:00:00. > :00:16.latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:17. > :00:24.As the US gets set to release its latest job numbers today, we find
:00:25. > :00:27.out what it means for Asia. How one Japanese carmaker is taking
:00:28. > :00:38.the most of India's green car market. -- growing. Looking Asia
:00:39. > :00:45.Report. We start with the world's largest economy, where there was
:00:46. > :00:49.better economic news. Applications for US unemployment benefits fell
:00:50. > :00:54.for the first time as workers retain their jobs. Jobless claims dropped
:00:55. > :00:59.by 20,000. There will be more figures later today which will give
:01:00. > :01:04.us America's latest numbers and a closer look at the nation's economic
:01:05. > :01:10.recovery. It will be a busy day for politicians in Washington, who will
:01:11. > :01:17.also be talking about raising the debt ceiling. Earlier I spoke to a
:01:18. > :01:23.chief economist to ask about America's economic recovery and its
:01:24. > :01:29.importance to us. It is very important. The data in the US has
:01:30. > :01:35.not been strong. The durable goods orders and housing data. There is?
:01:36. > :01:41.About whether the US economy is starting to stall, at a time about
:01:42. > :01:46.when emerging markets have become more viable. It is important that
:01:47. > :01:49.the payroll number is a decent number. Otherwise there will be more
:01:50. > :01:55.questions about whether the US economy is stalling. He mentioned
:01:56. > :01:59.the key emerging markets. We saw a stock sell-off earlier this week.
:02:00. > :02:06.You are fairly optimistic about the chances. There is too much media
:02:07. > :02:14.hype at the moment about this emerging market sell-off. One thing
:02:15. > :02:19.is that currencies in Asia have been adjusted since April last year. They
:02:20. > :02:25.have moved a lot. They are turning around trade positions in Thailand,
:02:26. > :02:28.India, Indonesia, it is happening. Asia's fundamentals and others bad
:02:29. > :02:33.as they were back during the Asian crisis. Most countries still have
:02:34. > :02:38.current-account surpluses, huge reserves, more flexible currencies.
:02:39. > :02:43.I think this is really a blessing in disguise. Investors focusing on the
:02:44. > :02:47.risk in emerging markets is pressuring policymakers in Asia to
:02:48. > :02:55.get there houses in order. We are seeing that in Asia, interest rate
:02:56. > :03:03.hikes. We are not too bad up on Asia. Thank you.
:03:04. > :03:05.In other news, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp have posted
:03:06. > :03:08.better-than-expected profits, despite advertising revenues falling
:03:09. > :03:14.at the company's newspaper division. Net income came at around $15
:03:15. > :03:19.million. It was higher than analysts estimate. Falling sales of the
:03:20. > :03:26.Australian newspapers saw revenue dropped by about 4%. Shares of
:03:27. > :03:33.LinkedIn, a social networking site for professionals, fell by as much
:03:34. > :03:38.as 4% after the firm's first forecast fell short. The firm has
:03:39. > :03:50.forecast revenue of about $2 million from 2014. That is down by about 2
:03:51. > :03:55.billion. Japanese carmakers have been investing recently. Brand
:03:56. > :04:03.flexes 80, and their Toyota are contenders in the market. Honda has
:04:04. > :04:11.climbed to the third place, up from eighth place. At the Delhi auto
:04:12. > :04:21.show, we spoke to the President and CEO of Honda in India. It is not
:04:22. > :04:24.affect much. The market is growing. However, he does not mean the market
:04:25. > :04:31.has disappeared. Customers are waiting for attractive offers. All
:04:32. > :04:37.the can do is support and supply to customers the best product. The
:04:38. > :04:41.Indian market is highly skewed towards diesel engines. You had to
:04:42. > :04:49.make those which recently. How has it worked? The come up with a diesel
:04:50. > :04:55.engine for the first time. It has had a tremendous response from
:04:56. > :05:01.customers. You are competing with a well-established giants like
:05:02. > :05:08.Suzuki. They have dealerships across the country. You are mainly focused
:05:09. > :05:19.in urban areas. How can you compete? We will have 117 dealers but in the
:05:20. > :05:23.March -- by the end of March. What is your view on the Indian auto
:05:24. > :05:30.market? Will the focus remained on smaller cars? More than 50% comes
:05:31. > :05:36.from smaller cars, hatchbacks. We are sure that it will change to
:05:37. > :05:46.Saddam 's, SUV 's and the modern market in the future. We expect the
:05:47. > :05:49.potential of fast growth. You are using India as a production hub, you
:05:50. > :05:54.export cars to South Africa and other markets. How was it going to
:05:55. > :06:03.make the start of exports two years ago. The reputation as good. We do
:06:04. > :06:11.not plan to expand the export numbers sharply. Our forecast is for
:06:12. > :06:17.Indian market. You can see more of it interviewed on India business
:06:18. > :06:23.report this Sunday. Shares in Japan's Sony are claiming in trade
:06:24. > :06:28.after the company sold off its PC division to focus on smartphones and
:06:29. > :06:33.others. It will cut 5000 jobs and split its TV making Ahmed were
:06:34. > :06:36.separate company. The restructuring comes as the electronics giant
:06:37. > :06:44.warned it would lose more than $1 billion this financial year, despite
:06:45. > :06:47.a forecast of a profit. I spoke with a representative of an investment
:06:48. > :06:53.bank to ask of this latest news means for the firm. In the
:06:54. > :07:02.long-term, it is important for them to continue their exit strategy. The
:07:03. > :07:18.only real comparison is a company building a fantastic base of
:07:19. > :07:28.existence it. Sony will only find bonanza if it exits. If the consumer
:07:29. > :07:31.electronics arm is bleeding. A $1 billion loss forecast. That is a
:07:32. > :07:40.staggering amount, getting rid of its PC and TV businesses. It is not
:07:41. > :07:45.leave Sony with much. If you look at apple, it does not have too many
:07:46. > :07:50.products. It is all about focus. Apple is focused on a few products.
:07:51. > :07:58.It is spectacular. In the case of Sony, they are not focused, they are
:07:59. > :08:05.doing too many branches. Insurance is one arm, content is another.
:08:06. > :08:13.Right now, they are not number one or number two. As the economic
:08:14. > :08:19.recovery continues to be sluggish in many parts of the world, we are
:08:20. > :08:23.asking whether the increase of the number of women in the workplace is
:08:24. > :08:28.the answer. One woman in a top position is Christine Lagarde, the
:08:29. > :08:31.managing director of the IMF. She tells the BBC about her brush with
:08:32. > :08:37.gender discrimination and the secret to her success. I have succeeded and
:08:38. > :08:43.I am he were a because I was not aggressive. I relied on teams. They
:08:44. > :08:49.acknowledged the team and the support that they had given me,
:08:50. > :08:54.because we worked together. I am not ashamed of saying that. Other types
:08:55. > :09:00.of management and leadership are fine, but if women can exercise
:09:01. > :09:07.leadership by being inclusive, by being team minded, by paying back to
:09:08. > :09:14.the team. If we can contaminate a few male leaders on that page, if we
:09:15. > :09:17.can contaminate a few of those males who do not succeed in reaching peace
:09:18. > :09:23.settlements, that is fine. I am prepared to buy for that. The worst
:09:24. > :09:28.as Commissioner faced, my first interview with the law firm in
:09:29. > :09:37.Paris. I have qualified on all fronts. The managing partner said to
:09:38. > :09:43.me, we're giving you job. But don't expect to make partnership. I said,
:09:44. > :09:53.ways that? He looked at me with contempt. He said, because you are a
:09:54. > :09:58.woman. That was about 35 years ago. Things have not changed enormously
:09:59. > :10:04.in many areas. The law firm I lived my life with was not that law firm.
:10:05. > :10:08.You can catch a lot more of that interview on whether women should be
:10:09. > :10:10.running the world economy in a special episode of Talking Business
:10:11. > :10:13.on the World Economic Forum over the weekend. A quick look at the
:10:14. > :10:14.markets. on the World Economic Forum over the
:10:15. > :10:25.weekend. A quick look at A huge reversal here. Wall Street gaining
:10:26. > :10:30.as a result of... Asian stocks are rising. Vindicate rebounding. Most
:10:31. > :10:31.stocks rebounding from a five-month low.
:10:32. > :10:34.rising. Vindicate rebounding. Most stocks rebounding from a That is it
:10:35. > :10:41.for this edition of Asia Business Report.
:10:42. > :10:47.Headlines: a senior American diplomat has apologised for elite
:10:48. > :10:53.recording which shows her in salt in the EU. Washington blames Russia for
:10:54. > :10:54.the leak. The UN has struck a deal