:00:00. > :00:00.an unprecedented intervention in the row over Donald Trump's state
:00:00. > :00:00.He said he's strongly opposed to the president addressing MPs
:00:07. > :00:14.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:15. > :00:25.Better times ahead. Toyota revises its profit forecast. We find out
:00:26. > :00:38.why. And how much of your household budget goes to your kids? Good
:00:39. > :00:43.morning, Asia. Hello, world. Guy could you still might go you could
:00:44. > :00:49.join us for Asia Business Report, I'm Rico Hizon -- glad you could
:00:50. > :00:52.join us. Toyota is looking at a stronger 2017 after its latest
:00:53. > :00:57.earnings numbers showed profits are down for the world's second-largest
:00:58. > :01:01.carmaker. The company raised its full-year profit forecast by nearly
:01:02. > :01:06.10% on expectations of a weakening yen against the US dollar, that
:01:07. > :01:11.would boost exports and profits even further. But in the past quarter it
:01:12. > :01:17.fell from 5.6 billion to $4.3 billion. Why is Toyota feeling so
:01:18. > :01:25.optimistic? Earlier I posed the question to a journalist from
:01:26. > :01:29.Automotive News. At Toyota it's all about the foreign exchange rates,
:01:30. > :01:32.they took a big hit in the last quarter, the depreciating yen hit
:01:33. > :01:36.their profits in a major way, that's why you see the big tumble but
:01:37. > :01:40.looking ahead they expect the Yen to weaken a bit for the rest of the
:01:41. > :01:43.year. Let's not get too excited because although they upgraded their
:01:44. > :01:48.forecast, they're still expecting their full-year net income to drop
:01:49. > :01:54.26%. Although it's boring, it's not as bad as they thought. Just like
:01:55. > :01:58.all Japanese car manufacturers, there's a big uncertainty on the
:01:59. > :02:03.horizon with President Trump, especially if there is some kind of
:02:04. > :02:09.tariff that will be imposed. Sure, that's a big topic here in Japan.
:02:10. > :02:13.The entire industry is a flutter with uncertainty about what Trump
:02:14. > :02:23.will bring to them. Exports from Japan are big, as our exports from
:02:24. > :02:27.neighbouring countries to the United States like Mexico and Canada. If he
:02:28. > :02:32.puts on a tariff then that will take a big chunk out of their profits
:02:33. > :02:36.going forward. What if they increase their investments in the United
:02:37. > :02:40.States? What will this mean for earnings for Toyota and the other
:02:41. > :02:45.carmakers? I think long-term they are making these kinds of
:02:46. > :02:49.investments in the United States, as the world's second-biggest auto
:02:50. > :02:54.market, it shows continued stability and growth, last year they had
:02:55. > :02:58.record sales in the US. That a long-term trend. But doing so is
:02:59. > :03:02.expensive and it takes time to build these factories, you can't just
:03:03. > :03:06.build one overnight, it takes several years. This is a long-term
:03:07. > :03:12.plan they would have to initiate in order to build more capacity in the
:03:13. > :03:17.US. In other business news making
:03:18. > :03:21.headlines, a group of 127 US tech companies have filed a legal
:03:22. > :03:25.document stating that President Trump's immigration ban affects
:03:26. > :03:29.their operations and inflicts serious harm on business. The
:03:30. > :03:34.companies include tech heavyweights like Apple, Facebook and Microsoft.
:03:35. > :03:39.The document is an amicus brief which allows parties not directly
:03:40. > :03:46.involved in the case but who feel they are affected to give their
:03:47. > :03:50.views. Toshiba has... The Japanese company has been looking at ways to
:03:51. > :03:55.raise cash to offset a potentially big loss from its US nuclear
:03:56. > :03:58.business. Today marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the
:03:59. > :04:04.Maastricht Treaty officially known as the Treaty of the European Union.
:04:05. > :04:09.Back then it was a sign of a feeling of optimism about what the EU could
:04:10. > :04:13.achieve. Few could have predicted the financial and political
:04:14. > :04:14.challenges the group would come up against 25 years later. Andrew
:04:15. > :04:25.Walker has the details. Maastricht, 1992 and a blueprint is
:04:26. > :04:28.agreed for a new and deeper programme of European integration.
:04:29. > :04:32.It was here the euro was conceived. This was a moment of hope and
:04:33. > :04:38.optimism, at least for European political leaders. The dole -- a
:04:39. > :04:44.quarter of a century on, the flag looks a bit tattered. We had,
:04:45. > :04:48.arguably still have, the financial crisis, one important member state,
:04:49. > :04:52.Britain, deciding to leave and the rise of anti-EU political groups in
:04:53. > :04:55.several countries and perhaps the chance they will take power this
:04:56. > :04:59.year in countries that were founder members of the European project,
:05:00. > :05:06.France and the Netherlands. Now the election of Donald Trump to the US
:05:07. > :05:10.presidency presents new and unpredictable challenges for Europe,
:05:11. > :05:15.he doesn't think much of the EU. He said the British decision to leave
:05:16. > :05:19.was so smart. He has certainly rattled Brussels. The president of
:05:20. > :05:23.the European council Donald Tusk wrote to EU member states saying:
:05:24. > :05:29.Maastricht was intended to create a new more congenial environment for
:05:30. > :05:32.business with less uncertainty. It feels like a long time ago. Andrew
:05:33. > :05:38.Walker, BBC News. Uncertainty over President Trump's
:05:39. > :05:42.policies, rising US interest rates and slower growth in China, these
:05:43. > :05:48.are some of the factors in best as are facing when it comes to where to
:05:49. > :05:51.put their money. But what should be the 2017 strategy? This is what the
:05:52. > :05:54.chief investment officer for Credit Suisse told me earlier.
:05:55. > :06:02.We're recommending investors look at their portfolios thematically. We
:06:03. > :06:07.think the infrastructure story globally is one that should be part
:06:08. > :06:11.of a portfolio in the same way that emerging markets were in the
:06:12. > :06:16.nineteen nineties. It's been an under locked investment space for
:06:17. > :06:22.decades. And that is true in the US, in Europe and across Asia. The types
:06:23. > :06:27.of money and investment being spoken about now by multinationals is vast.
:06:28. > :06:33.The ADB are recommending Asia spend $1 trillion on investment by 2025.
:06:34. > :06:37.That is a huge amount of money that needs to be spent and it will be
:06:38. > :06:45.reflected in client portfolios in equity and fixed income and
:06:46. > :06:48.commodities. Looking at interest rates, we are it's picking the
:06:49. > :06:52.Federal Reserve to raise the cost of borrowing two to three times a year.
:06:53. > :06:58.Is that a key investment theme? Absolutely. Investing in a rising
:06:59. > :07:01.interest environment will affect your income portfolios and
:07:02. > :07:06.commodities and the currency side. We continue to focus on investment
:07:07. > :07:10.grade credit is one that will attract over the course of this
:07:11. > :07:15.year. But the financials, healthcare, sectors in the equity
:07:16. > :07:18.space will outperform and those we recommending clients explore.
:07:19. > :07:24.The chief investment officer from Credit Suisse, John Woods. Ballet,
:07:25. > :07:28.swimming, soccer, Mandarin classes, these are some of the activities
:07:29. > :07:34.many children in the region are signed up to from a very early age.
:07:35. > :07:40.Each one costs money. But how much is too much? Mariko Oi decided to
:07:41. > :07:47.use her household budget as a test case for the series the Business of
:07:48. > :07:51.Kids. Welcome to the life of a
:07:52. > :07:55.two-year-old. In addition to her childcare during the week, Nikara's
:07:56. > :08:01.weekends are jampacked with extracurricular activities. Meet her
:08:02. > :08:05.Tiger mum. Yes, it's me. We think of these activities being great for her
:08:06. > :08:12.but they aren't cheap. In fact we decided to teach her swimming at
:08:13. > :08:18.home because we already spend three each month on her extracurricular
:08:19. > :08:26.activities. And that's on top of over $1000 on childcare. And we have
:08:27. > :08:33.another one coming! And as the child gets older, the
:08:34. > :08:38.list only gets longer and longer. Thursdays I'm doing soccer,
:08:39. > :08:43.Wednesdays I do swimming. In fact, e.g. 'S mother has started a website
:08:44. > :08:50.that lists extracurricular activities for children. -- Evie's.
:08:51. > :08:54.We saw a high demand from advertisers and clients to reach out
:08:55. > :09:00.to the parent market. It has things like coding for kids, soccer,
:09:01. > :09:05.tennis, such a wide range, ballet, swimming, there's a mini MBA for
:09:06. > :09:11.children. You heard it right, a mini MBA for children! But are we at risk
:09:12. > :09:17.of over scheduling our children's weekends? And is there a clear
:09:18. > :09:20.benefit that a child psychologist sees in children that do
:09:21. > :09:25.extracurricular activities? I guess the word you're looking for is
:09:26. > :09:28.positively engage. It doesn't mean a child enrolled in a lot of classes
:09:29. > :09:35.will do better than a child that isn't. But if the child is at home
:09:36. > :09:39.not purposefully engaging in any classes but they are doing a lot of
:09:40. > :09:43.things at home with their parents, they're still doing well. For us
:09:44. > :09:49.raising our daughter to be fluent in my mother tongue, Japanese, is very
:09:50. > :09:53.important and many children in Asia are also taking up Mandarin. But the
:09:54. > :09:58.issue of over scheduling her weekends aside, we may need to
:09:59. > :10:03.reconsider our household budget once our second child arrives.
:10:04. > :10:11.Mariko Oi, BBC News. And it gets expensive every year! Let's have a
:10:12. > :10:14.quick look now at the markets. As you can see, not a good start to the
:10:15. > :10:17.Tuesday trading session for the Asian financial markets, all dipping
:10:18. > :10:21.into negative territory after US equities fell overnight lead by
:10:22. > :10:25.lower oil prices and global uncertainty over Donald Trump's
:10:26. > :10:30.economic policies and concerns over the French election in April. Japan,
:10:31. > :10:34.Hong Kong and Australia all in the red. Thank you so much for investing
:10:35. > :10:45.your time with us. I'm Rico Hizon. Sport Today is coming up next.
:10:46. > :10:50.The United States Justice Department has formally lodged an appeal
:10:51. > :10:52.against the suspension of Donald Trump's travel ban
:10:53. > :10:54.on citizens from seven mainly Muslim countries.