:00:00. > :00:20.Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
:00:21. > :00:27.Asian stock markets sell-off from Wall Street. Why investors in the US
:00:28. > :00:31.and Asia are worried. A big push out of China, how long will it take for
:00:32. > :00:42.Alibaba to succeed in the American marketplace? Good morning, Asia.
:00:43. > :00:49.Hello, world. Thank you for joining us that this Thursday edition. We
:00:50. > :00:53.start off with the markets. As you can see right now, the Nick A
:00:54. > :00:59.kicking off the first day trading session down by 1.4%. 270 points,
:01:00. > :01:03.tracking falls on Wall Street overnight on worries about
:01:04. > :01:09.Washington. We also have the All Ordinaries index giving back 1.2% in
:01:10. > :01:13.early trade. US shares extending losses following reports of a memo
:01:14. > :01:16.by James Comey suggesting that President Trump had tried to
:01:17. > :01:24.interfere with a federal investigation. That has made the US
:01:25. > :01:30.investors depressed. Down by 1.8% overnight and the NASDAQ losing a
:01:31. > :01:33.hefty 2.6%. That leads to concerns that political turmoil could get in
:01:34. > :01:38.the way of the business friendly policies of the President, such as
:01:39. > :01:45.the much anticipated tax cuts and infrastructure spending. For more
:01:46. > :01:53.were joined in our studio. Karishma, all of these controversies from
:01:54. > :01:56.Donald Trump, they are depressing the sentiment of investors?
:01:57. > :01:59.Absolutely. You don't even need to watch house of cards any longer,
:02:00. > :02:04.just turn on the news every morning. In all seriousness, look at the way
:02:05. > :02:09.it that stocks and shares in Asia have reacted to the USA. Earlier on,
:02:10. > :02:13.the Japanese stock exchange was down and that is despite the fact that
:02:14. > :02:19.economic growth figures out of Japan coming out today were better than
:02:20. > :02:22.expected, up by about .5%. Quarter on quarter they continue to show
:02:23. > :02:28.strong growth. Investors are struck off the good news instead taking
:02:29. > :02:33.their cue from Wall Street. A lot of this is, of course, because of the
:02:34. > :02:37.rush to save face and like the Japanese yen. Overnight we saw the
:02:38. > :02:39.Japanese yen strengthening as a result of the anxiety among
:02:40. > :02:46.investors. That is typically what happens. As a result, the big
:02:47. > :02:50.exporter stocks in Japan on the Nikkei, tended appreciate because
:02:51. > :02:53.there earnings are affected by a stronger yen. Overall this is
:02:54. > :02:59.current political sentiment in the US which affects and makes Asian
:03:00. > :03:04.markets nervous. This negative mood, is it all about the Trump
:03:05. > :03:10.controversy was to mark how about European politics and the North
:03:11. > :03:14.Korea issue and US earnings? Does that play into the picture still?
:03:15. > :03:17.The main focus right now is very much what is happening in
:03:18. > :03:22.Washington. In a sense, Asia can take some heart from that because at
:03:23. > :03:26.some point, investors here are going to say hold on, our economic
:03:27. > :03:29.fundamentals are still strong and they are still company proffered
:03:30. > :03:33.earnings reporting solid results. The ongoing political situation in
:03:34. > :03:38.the US does not appear to have any end in sight but while that trundles
:03:39. > :03:41.on, Asia will start looking to the other big partner, the neighbour,
:03:42. > :03:46.the giant in the neighbourhood, and that is China. I expect to see more
:03:47. > :03:50.deals in our relationship growing in the days and months to come. Thank
:03:51. > :03:57.you grew much for that update on the Asian market story. Moving out
:03:58. > :04:02.corporate news and Alibaba, the e-commerce giant from China will be
:04:03. > :04:05.reporting today. A key part of its strategy is connecting the huge
:04:06. > :04:11.consumer market in China with US entrepreneurs. It is something that
:04:12. > :04:24.Jack Marx spoke about with the US President is we report from New
:04:25. > :04:28.York. -- Jack Ma. He is a great entrepreneur and he loves China. For
:04:29. > :04:32.President Trump, the best way for Jack Ma to show is lots of this
:04:33. > :04:37.country is to make it easier for Americans to their goods to China.
:04:38. > :04:42.This sneak a shot in Manhattan is an example of just that. Stadium goods
:04:43. > :04:46.has a physical store but 90% of its business is done online. Since
:04:47. > :04:50.August, they had been selling on Alibaba and it has been a big boost
:04:51. > :04:56.to their sneaker empire. We do over $100 million this year and it is
:04:57. > :05:01.about 20% of our business. They run a start-up which has refreshing. We
:05:02. > :05:08.can channel partnerships with other large marketplaces. We deal with...
:05:09. > :05:14.They treat us like we are trusted, you know, multibillion dollar
:05:15. > :05:17.company. The leader of China's biggest e-commerce retailer has big
:05:18. > :05:22.ambitions. He wants to bring 1 million American businesses to China
:05:23. > :05:26.and 2 billion customers in the next decade. They have been talking about
:05:27. > :05:31.making a big push outside of China for the last few years. Since they
:05:32. > :05:35.became a public company, really, and perhaps even prior to that when they
:05:36. > :05:39.filed to come public a number of years ago at this point. When you
:05:40. > :05:43.look at their revenue base, it is almost entirely contributed by
:05:44. > :05:47.China. So they may very well have aspirations and they may very well
:05:48. > :05:52.talk about that but the numbers suggest there is a lot of work to be
:05:53. > :05:57.done on that front. Mr Ma is not afraid of hard work. He will be in
:05:58. > :06:05.the US next month to make his pitch directly to US businesses. It just
:06:06. > :06:08.may be an uphill battle. Some of the biggest defence contractors in
:06:09. > :06:13.Singapore this week that the maritime defence exhibition and
:06:14. > :06:16.conference. Is taking place against a backdrop of heightened uncertainty
:06:17. > :06:22.about regional security. My colleague was at the event and she
:06:23. > :06:31.met with an Italian contractor. This is the kind of patrol vessel on sale
:06:32. > :06:35.here. This goes at 55 knots it has antiship missiles as will on the
:06:36. > :06:42.back and it is built by an Italian manufacturer that is also known from
:06:43. > :06:48.their luxury yachts. I am speaking to Juliano. Who are you selling
:06:49. > :06:54.these crafts to? All the countries of this region are facing an
:06:55. > :07:00.increasing threat from very aggressive attacks to their
:07:01. > :07:03.economies, their people and their safety and our boats are
:07:04. > :07:07.specifically designed for this purpose. And you are finding that
:07:08. > :07:12.there are more people purchasing from this region because there are
:07:13. > :07:15.concerns around South China Sea and disputed territories? Well, the
:07:16. > :07:20.disputed territories of course is a subject and I think that all of
:07:21. > :07:25.these countries are facing more direct economic issues, direct
:07:26. > :07:30.threats because they believe that there economy has to be defended
:07:31. > :07:35.from illegal traffic. And that is what our boats are built for. And
:07:36. > :07:42.who are you selling specifically to? Which countries have shown interest?
:07:43. > :07:44.The countries are Singapore where the exhibition takes place.
:07:45. > :07:49.Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, all these
:07:50. > :07:55.countries have the same issues and all these countries are showing a
:07:56. > :07:58.lot of interest in our product. That was the maritime defence exhibition
:07:59. > :08:04.in Singapore. Chinese online giant 10 cents has defeated expectations
:08:05. > :08:07.with a 15% jump in its quarter profitability thanks to strong
:08:08. > :08:12.growth in gaming and digital payments. The company looks set to
:08:13. > :08:16.expand its digital music services. It has signed a deal with universal
:08:17. > :08:21.music for exclusive rights to its catalogue in China. Will the deal
:08:22. > :08:32.merely be popular instead of profitable?
:08:33. > :08:43.So here I am, like so many people in this city, grooving through my daily
:08:44. > :08:48.existence, listening to music available via phone. All completely
:08:49. > :08:54.free. Now I'm not talking about piracy. In China, technology do
:08:55. > :09:01.giants operate platforms which offer a huge amount of music, all
:09:02. > :09:10.completely free. So why would I pay for it? Well, little by little, 10
:09:11. > :09:20.cents is trying to win its customers -- wean its customers off free
:09:21. > :09:24.music. The extent to which it is ultimately successful in this
:09:25. > :09:28.endeavour is going to be crucial for universal music which has just
:09:29. > :09:33.signed on with the company to have its product delivered by their
:09:34. > :09:37.platforms in China. To get on board as a paying customer is not what of
:09:38. > :09:43.money. Only a couple of dollars a month. But our people willing to
:09:44. > :09:58.part with our hard earned cash for better access to music?
:09:59. > :10:03.Universal signed this deal with Tencent knowing that it has 15
:10:04. > :10:14.million subscribers. More significantly, it also knows that
:10:15. > :10:25.Tencent has hundreds of millions of active users each month waiting to
:10:26. > :10:27.become paying customers. Dance into the music there. Thank you for
:10:28. > :10:30.investing your time with us.