:00:00. > :00:17.Alice disappeared just over a month ago. Now on BBC News all the latest
:00:18. > :00:23.business news live from Singapore. Hong Kong's on brother revolution is
:00:24. > :00:31.set to swell, retailers brace for a dip in national holiday sales. And a
:00:32. > :00:41.pickup in business confidence among manufacturers in Japan. Thank you
:00:42. > :00:45.for joining us. Hong Kong's stock exchange is closed
:00:46. > :00:49.this Wednesday, perhaps a welcome break after two days of losses
:00:50. > :00:55.triggered by pro`democracy protest concerns. Speculation is growing
:00:56. > :00:59.whether Beijing will impose economic pressure to put a lid on the
:01:00. > :01:07.protesters' campaign. For more about the response I spoke to a managing
:01:08. > :01:15.director in Hong Kong. Economic sanctions, they are one way,
:01:16. > :01:23.hypothetically, that the mainland could increase pressure on Hong Kong
:01:24. > :01:30.to get some movement to come to a negotiated settlement. There is a
:01:31. > :01:35.lot of talk that China could remove its 50% retail luxury tax which
:01:36. > :01:42.would hurt the flood of tourists to the city. The last round of protests
:01:43. > :01:48.against anti` subversion legislation that was one of the rumours that
:01:49. > :01:53.went around. That the public tried tourists in relation to the luxury
:01:54. > :01:59.tax on the mainland, was something that was tabled. Hypothetically the
:02:00. > :02:03.mainland could look at decreasing that which would stem the flow of
:02:04. > :02:19.tourism and retail purchases in Hong Kong. Any kind of economic pressure
:02:20. > :02:21.and sanctions could undermine Hong KongKong's status. And China needs
:02:22. > :02:30.Hong Kong is also Bella they have made a statement that Hong Kong is
:02:31. > :02:37.the golden goose. Here in Hong Kong we would be concerned about the
:02:38. > :02:46.growing probability of an international board in Chennai. ``
:02:47. > :02:51.international bourse. With the Hong Kong stock exchange, China is
:02:52. > :03:04.putting Hong Kong forward effectively as the international
:03:05. > :03:09.bourse. `` ``Shanghai.. The euro will become the sixth major
:03:10. > :03:25.currency which can be exchanged directly for the yuan in Shanghai.
:03:26. > :03:28.This is just another step to make China's currency more widely
:03:29. > :03:34.available outside China. It already has agreements with America, UK,
:03:35. > :03:43.literally at Japan, so the euro is an obvious partner. `` Australia.
:03:44. > :03:48.The Hong Kong dollar is at a six`month low against the greenback,
:03:49. > :03:52.could we eventually see the unpicking of the Hong Kong currency
:03:53. > :03:59.against the US dollar? I doubt it. Hong Kong has been through the
:04:00. > :04:03.turmoil before. They are trying to break the linkage between the Hong
:04:04. > :04:05.Kong dollar and the US dollar. But Hong Kong is resilient. It will be
:04:06. > :04:14.able to maintain that no matter what.
:04:15. > :04:18.Business confidence among manufacturers in Japan has improved
:04:19. > :04:38.since 2/4. There has been a pickup in the three months till September.
:04:39. > :04:47.`` 2/4. There has been a small bounce. The drop in nonmanufacturing
:04:48. > :04:51.conference told you that the rise in sales tax that we had a few back has
:04:52. > :04:59.hurt the economy more than people expected. As we can see, there is a
:05:00. > :05:05.double edged sword for the weakening Japanese yen against the US dollar.
:05:06. > :05:09.It is a benefit for exporters but not good news for small and medium
:05:10. > :05:18.prize enterprises. Ashya medium`sized. In many ways a weaker
:05:19. > :05:24.yen means they have very few options. The yen pushing the lower,
:05:25. > :05:28.stimulating labour demand and hopefully at some point consumption,
:05:29. > :05:35.they are pinning their hopes on that I mention. In the second quarter we
:05:36. > :05:41.say at we saw a contraction in the economy. Could we see a technical
:05:42. > :05:51.recession, meaning two consecutive quarters of falling economic data.
:05:52. > :05:57.You may see it. But it is likely that the second quarter was not so
:05:58. > :06:01.bad. More worrying is the fact that indicators are at lower levels than
:06:02. > :06:08.they were a year ago. That shows you how much the economy is installing.
:06:09. > :06:17.And where does the bank of Japan go from here? How could they boost the
:06:18. > :06:19.economy. They are in trouble. They have very little chance of hitting
:06:20. > :06:24.their 2% inflation target next year. When they revise the targeting
:06:25. > :06:31.October they will have to recognise the economy is off track, step up
:06:32. > :06:45.stimulus and perhaps move into negative interest rates. They need
:06:46. > :06:54.to try harder. The factory output has gone down in the Pan Am comment.
:06:55. > :06:59.EBay is planning to split off its payment system, PayPal, into a
:07:00. > :07:03.separate company. News of the move, which is expected to be completed in
:07:04. > :07:11.the second half of 2015, sent shares up 7%. Microsoft has disclosed the
:07:12. > :07:18.first details of its next operating system, Windows can. It will run on
:07:19. > :07:30.a range of devices including games consoles and phones. `` Windows can.
:07:31. > :07:35.Hopes are high in India that a meeting between the Indian prime
:07:36. > :07:39.minister and Barack Obama will ring significant returns for both
:07:40. > :07:44.economies. India is counting on US investors for big infrastructure
:07:45. > :07:50.projects and investors are keen to see Mr Modi cut red tape and combat
:07:51. > :07:59.corruption. This report from Washington.
:08:00. > :08:03.New York was about showcasing brand India and brand Modi. Telling
:08:04. > :08:07.America that India is open for business. In Washington, the effort
:08:08. > :08:12.was to underscore the common US and Indian values, and a striking up a
:08:13. > :08:19.chemistry. Security was tight around the White House, as the two leaders
:08:20. > :08:22.got down to business. Prime minister Modi and President Obama sat
:08:23. > :08:27.side`by`side and talked on a list of issues, ranging from the Middle East
:08:28. > :08:32.to Ebola but the economy was central. Last night during our
:08:33. > :08:39.dinner we spent most of our time talking about the economy. We agreed
:08:40. > :08:43.that in both countries, one of our primary goals is to improve
:08:44. > :08:51.education and job training so that our younger people can compete in
:08:52. > :08:53.the global marketplace. Modi did not shy away from raising issues on
:08:54. > :08:59.trade disputes, nuclear cooperation and visas, which have dogged the
:09:00. > :09:06.relationship for some time. TRANSLATION: I also sought the
:09:07. > :09:14.support from President Obama for service Company is in the US market
:09:15. > :09:18.that are from India. Experts say it would be miraculous if all these
:09:19. > :09:23.disputes can be resolved overnight, but the two leaders do seem to have
:09:24. > :09:27.made a promising start. They have agreed to set up a new agenda to
:09:28. > :09:32.revive this flagging relationship. While Mr Modi has a strong domestic
:09:33. > :09:37.economic focus, and the US supports that, it also expects India to be an
:09:38. > :09:43.effective and strategic partner on global platforms. If the two can fit
:09:44. > :09:55.both on the same page, that would be called a success.
:09:56. > :10:05.There has been a jump in sales in China's in cinemas. It is a more
:10:06. > :10:14.successful the year than 20 13. The best movie so far is Transformers,
:10:15. > :10:26.the new movie. As we go, a quick look at the markets. The market in
:10:27. > :10:32.Hong Kong is closed today for China's national holidays. Japan and
:10:33. > :10:42.Australia is in negative territory. Bye for now.
:10:43. > :10:51.I'm Mike Embley. The top stories this hour: crowds of protesters are
:10:52. > :10:53.still on the street in Hong Kong as China's national day