:00:00. > :00:00.well as moves to boost business. Now on BBC News all the latest
:00:00. > :00:20.business news live from Singapore. Asian markets react to the US
:00:21. > :00:31.central bank trimming its bond purchases by $10 billion. A pulse
:00:32. > :00:33.check on e`commerce in China. I'm Rico Hizon. Welcome to Asia
:00:34. > :00:46.Business Report. We begin with the new Federal
:00:47. > :00:49.reserve chair in the US and her first press conference following a
:00:50. > :00:55.meeting. She announced a reduction to the stimulus programme and hinted
:00:56. > :01:01.about an increase in US interest rates which may come sooner than
:01:02. > :01:05.expected. The world 's most powerful central banker, Janet Yellen, said
:01:06. > :01:11.that the Fed will continue to buy bonds but not as many. It will
:01:12. > :01:17.reduce its cash injections by $10 billion to $55 billion per month
:01:18. > :01:23.beginning in April. The US economy is recovering. It is expected to
:01:24. > :01:27.grow from 2.8% to 3% this year. The world 's largest economy will
:01:28. > :01:32.continue to be supported by ultralow interest rates. The committee
:01:33. > :01:35.continues to anticipate that conditions were likely warrant
:01:36. > :01:41.maintaining the current range for the federal funds rate for a
:01:42. > :01:46.considerable time after the asset purchase programme ends. This is
:01:47. > :01:54.especially if projected inflation continues to run below the committee
:01:55. > :02:02.'s longer run goal and provided that longer term inflation expectations
:02:03. > :02:05.remain an anchor. This is faster than expected, but the US central
:02:06. > :02:11.bank has downplayed its significance as a measure of economic health. In
:02:12. > :02:26.her first press briefing as Chair, she said that the US economy was far
:02:27. > :02:29.from full employment. The reason that the committee felt that the
:02:30. > :02:35.time had come to revise the forward guidance is not because we think
:02:36. > :02:43.that it has not been effective. We think it has been effective. It has
:02:44. > :02:52.had a very useful impact in helping markets understand our expectations
:02:53. > :02:59.and shaping their own. But it is becoming, as the unemployment rate
:03:00. > :03:08.gets closer to 6.5%, to bridging that threshold, it seems like it
:03:09. > :03:14.will be breached. Interest rates are near 0%. Janet Yellen would not give
:03:15. > :03:18.many clues about when they would go up but, judging by the reaction on
:03:19. > :03:27.Wall Street, investors believe that the timeframe has shrunk.
:03:28. > :03:33.On the back of Janet Yellen's statement, Asian markets are in
:03:34. > :03:36.negative territory. I spoke to an analyst and I asked him if the
:03:37. > :03:44.region is prepared for this latest message. Not at all. We have seen
:03:45. > :03:49.two indications of this. In May, when they initially started talking
:03:50. > :03:53.about scaling back, and then another scare later in the year last year.
:03:54. > :03:58.In the last few months we have been in a quiet zone where weakness in
:03:59. > :04:03.the US state, driven by the weather, has caused the dollar to Stockton.
:04:04. > :04:14.That will push money back into this region and raise hopes. When will
:04:15. > :04:19.she raise interest rates? She said that it would be six months after
:04:20. > :04:22.the end of the programme, so she's signalling potentially March of next
:04:23. > :04:28.year. That is earlier than what people were thinking and I think it
:04:29. > :04:34.will be pushed back to June. How will this impact policy for Asian
:04:35. > :04:38.central banks? It causes a bit of a problem because as US interest rates
:04:39. > :04:44.rise, and given the ongoing issues around China, it will push Asian
:04:45. > :04:49.currencies down. We will see a quick reaction in currency markets in
:04:50. > :04:52.Asia. As currencies weaken, we will see the type of reaction that we
:04:53. > :04:58.have seen in other markets which means that interest rates will
:04:59. > :05:02.climb. Which Asian central banks are vulnerable to this trimming of bond
:05:03. > :05:14.purchases and rising interest rates, which will move first? You'll
:05:15. > :05:17.make the Philippines, given that they are concerned about domestic
:05:18. > :05:27.inflation pressure. Indonesia could be vulnerable on the currency side.
:05:28. > :05:35.Moving to technology, and we have a mixed bag of data. A Chinese company
:05:36. > :05:39.reported a 10% rise in revenues but they also saw its lowest quarterly
:05:40. > :05:43.profit growth in nearly two years. That is due to heavy spending to
:05:44. > :05:51.promote its mobile messaging application. That application has
:05:52. > :05:54.gone from a messaging service to a mobile platform for everything from
:05:55. > :06:05.social networking, gaming, to personal finance. Shares fell by 3%
:06:06. > :06:16.in the Hong Kong stock exchange. It is now in positive territory again.
:06:17. > :06:21.A volatile move for shares today. Investors are digesting the profit
:06:22. > :06:30.results of this company. Yes. It is pretty choppy. That is a reflection
:06:31. > :06:34.that this is a mixed bag of results. 40% increase in revenue year on
:06:35. > :06:42.year, a lot to cheer about there. But there is a sense that this is a
:06:43. > :06:48.slowing profit growth here. 13% for the fourth quarter, pretty tidy.
:06:49. > :06:55.Analysts suggest that the reason is not as high as it could be is
:06:56. > :06:58.because they are spending more on advertising and marketing to get
:06:59. > :07:05.more users onto their mobile messaging service. That is central
:07:06. > :07:09.to the business model. Something like 350 million users are there.
:07:10. > :07:14.Some people wonder how much potential for further growth varies?
:07:15. > :07:18.We have already seen that they are looking overseas to try to build
:07:19. > :07:25.some of their strength away from China. They want to get into the
:07:26. > :07:29.mobile payment system in China but authorities have clamps down on this
:07:30. > :07:34.business because of security and verification concerns. This could
:07:35. > :07:41.have a medium`term impact on their business strategy. Absolutely. This
:07:42. > :07:44.is all about the fight for dominance in China's Internet market. One of
:07:45. > :07:49.the key parts of that will be trying to get into mobile e`commerce
:07:50. > :07:52.payment systems. They were dealt a blow last week because their efforts
:07:53. > :08:00.to launch this virtual credit card were blocked. We also saw investors
:08:01. > :08:04.are little bit troubled by the sense that this will not be as plain
:08:05. > :08:14.sailing as they may have hoped. Thank you, John.
:08:15. > :08:19.Saturday is World Water Day, highlighting the need for water
:08:20. > :08:23.conservation. Between now and then we will be highlighting the problem
:08:24. > :08:29.of global drought, one consequence of which is rising food prices. US
:08:30. > :08:39.milk farmers have benefited as one of their main competitors, New
:08:40. > :08:43.Zealand, recovers from drought. The fields here in New Zealand looks
:08:44. > :08:48.parched, but this is quite normal this season and it is a compare to
:08:49. > :08:51.the drought last year, the worst in decades. Farmers could not satisfy
:08:52. > :08:58.the growing demand for dairy from Asia. The ever increasing thirst for
:08:59. > :09:02.milk powder and other dairy products has given one of New Zealand's main
:09:03. > :09:08.competitors, the US, the chance to plug shortfalls. Dairy sales
:09:09. > :09:13.increased 70% in China last year, meaning that domestic supplies have
:09:14. > :09:22.been tightened and US sales have gone up by 1.5% this is good ``.
:09:23. > :09:28.This is good for American dairy farmers and the price for cheese and
:09:29. > :09:32.ice cream will climb further. Farmers here still have something to
:09:33. > :09:36.gain. Last year they feared that the drought could cost $2 billion with
:09:37. > :09:44.good weather since then and a booming milk prices, the industry is
:09:45. > :09:51.rebounding. On Friday we will have more coverage
:09:52. > :09:55.ahead of World Water Date. We will hear from correspondence in India
:09:56. > :10:11.and Egypt. A quick look at the markets before we go.
:10:12. > :10:42.Those are the Asian markets. Thank you for investing your time with us.
:10:43. > :10:46.The top stories this hour. New satellite evidence appears to show
:10:47. > :10:49.that the missing Malaysian plane was moving long after communication
:10:50. > :10:51.stopped, and Australia begins a new search in the Indian Ocean.
:10:52. > :10:54.Ukrainian soldiers have been forced to pack up and leave their barracks
:10:55. > :10:56.in Crimea after Russian activists took over the base and kicked them
:10:57. > :11:04.out. British police investigating the
:11:05. > :11:05.disappearance of Madeleine McCann say they're searching for a