0:00:00 > 0:00:01of helping her husband prepare to carry out an act of terrorism.
0:00:01 > 0:00:03Madihah Taheer had bought him a large combat knife
0:00:03 > 0:00:04to use in an attack.
0:00:04 > 0:00:10Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Anderson and Alphabet do not disappoint their
0:00:18 > 0:00:23Anderson and Alphabet do not disappoint their investors as shares
0:00:23 > 0:00:28surged beyond expectations. A sign of The Times, the last day of floor
0:00:28 > 0:00:33trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
0:00:33 > 0:00:41Welcome to Asia Business Report. A bumper crop of tech earnings have
0:00:41 > 0:00:48shown stellar results. Online companies like Amazon and Alphabet,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52Google+ parent company, delivered better earnings and sent stocks
0:00:52 > 0:00:56soaring. I spoke to our North America
0:00:56 > 0:01:00technology reporter in San Francisco and asked if Twitter could turn a
0:01:00 > 0:01:04profit in the not too distant future...This is one of the best
0:01:04 > 0:01:08days on the stock market that Twitter has had since it went public
0:01:08 > 0:01:13in a few years ago. The CEO says that in the next quarter, because
0:01:13 > 0:01:17they could raise costs and revenue in the licensing side of the
0:01:17 > 0:01:21business, for the first time in the company's history they could turn a
0:01:21 > 0:01:28profit.It was a busy day in terms of earnings, we heard from Amazon as
0:01:28 > 0:01:35well as Alphabet, what did they tell us?A busy day indeed. Amazon had an
0:01:35 > 0:01:38incredibly strong showing, not a great increase in profit but
0:01:38 > 0:01:42investors are often more worried about growth at Amazon and they have
0:01:42 > 0:01:49excelled there today. Revenues at $43.7 billion in the last quarter,
0:01:49 > 0:01:55up 34% on this time last year. A big jump. Some of the money has come
0:01:55 > 0:02:00from All foods, you will remember that Amazon bought them back in
0:02:00 > 0:02:06August for just over $13 billion. -- Whole Foods. Bringing in extra
0:02:06 > 0:02:10revenue for the company, contributing to an enormous figure
0:02:10 > 0:02:15of $43.7 billion for the last quarter. Alphabet has had a strong
0:02:15 > 0:02:20quarter, their profits are the key figure. 833% rise in profits
0:02:20 > 0:02:27compared to this time last year. But, there are a of slightly
0:02:27 > 0:02:34troubling alphabet earnings. The TAC, the amount of money that Google
0:02:34 > 0:02:40has to pay in order to get people looking at its ads, placing those in
0:02:40 > 0:02:45certain areas of the Internet. They spent more than $5 billion on
0:02:45 > 0:02:49traffic acquisition in the last quarter, up considerably more than
0:02:49 > 0:02:53analysts hoped. Good news for Alphabet but there are troubling
0:02:53 > 0:03:02signs in there as well.And another business news... Toymaker Mattel is
0:03:02 > 0:03:06suspending its quarterly dividends after they suffered a head from the
0:03:06 > 0:03:11bankruptcy of its largest retailer, Toys "R" Us. Their shares sell 16%
0:03:11 > 0:03:15to $13 when the company said they suffered a loss of more than $600
0:03:15 > 0:03:19million in the three months which ended in September. The California
0:03:19 > 0:03:24-based company was also heard by weak demand of its core products
0:03:24 > 0:03:38like Barbie, Hot Wheels, Thomas and Friends and Monster Hi. His message
0:03:38 > 0:03:42will focus on creating a sustainable wealth for all. Earlier, I was
0:03:42 > 0:03:49joined by Joss and asked if the Prime Minister can offer to entice
0:03:49 > 0:03:57voters.I think the point is Malaysia is in a good place now.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01Growth is on an upswing and government revenues have recovered.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06There is an improvement in the revenues from the oil and the
0:04:06 > 0:04:10sector, with additional dividends for the second half of the year.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14There is a lot of flexibility to continue with fiscal consolidation,
0:04:14 > 0:04:20which is lower budget deficits, moving towards a neutral deficit.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Suspending wages which have been on an upward trend over the years.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28Increasing measures which help private consumption.What will be
0:04:28 > 0:04:32puzzling to viewers, especially outside of Malaysia, that he remains
0:04:32 > 0:04:35quite popular in spite of the ongoing scandals surrounding one
0:04:35 > 0:04:45ADB. Is that partly because of the economy performance?Most of the
0:04:45 > 0:04:48data suggests the economy and Malaysia has seen one of the
0:04:48 > 0:04:54strongest recoveries, and the growth is broad-based. Consumption is above
0:04:54 > 0:04:59trend in recent years. We have seen a growth in exports in addition to
0:04:59 > 0:05:03investment so the economic outlook is quite bright in Malaysia and for
0:05:03 > 0:05:06the most part, we expect it to continue into the next two years.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11What kinds of measures can we expect which would help ordinary people?On
0:05:11 > 0:05:20the revenue side, tax has been a large driver of revenue and has a
0:05:20 > 0:05:24negative impact for the lower income brackets in the population. Part of
0:05:24 > 0:05:30the spending can offset the impact of GST, boosting revenues. That's
0:05:30 > 0:05:34where we have welfare payments in addition to broader spending on
0:05:34 > 0:05:38wages. That is something the Prime Minister promised or at least
0:05:38 > 0:05:44suggested to civil servants a few weeks back. We can expect the trend
0:05:44 > 0:05:50to continue. It doesn't mean that the economy will be deprived of
0:05:50 > 0:05:55infrastructure spending. The coalition government is good at
0:05:55 > 0:05:58incorporating budget financing like contributions from private
0:05:58 > 0:06:03investors, as well as in Chinese infrastructure.P45th Tokyo motor
0:06:03 > 0:06:07show opens its doors to the public at the weekend where Japanese
0:06:07 > 0:06:11car-makers will be showing off the latest technology. It comes at a
0:06:11 > 0:06:16time where the image of Japanese quality has taken a hit from
0:06:16 > 0:06:21scandals like the Nissan airbag recalls. Earlier, I spoke to an
0:06:21 > 0:06:26analyst in Tokyo.We have a lot of companies introducing automatic
0:06:26 > 0:06:35driving cars, all of those old companies are eager to start using
0:06:35 > 0:06:43those models.And it comes at a time when we've had quite a lot of
0:06:43 > 0:06:50scandals from Japanese companies, Nissan and Kobe steel. Those
0:06:50 > 0:06:57scandals are quite different but has it been talked about in the industry
0:06:57 > 0:07:05a lot? The quality of made in Japan? I do not think there is any major
0:07:05 > 0:07:09problem in the quality front of Japanese products. At this point,
0:07:09 > 0:07:15the biggest questions are surrounding compliance and
0:07:15 > 0:07:23especially Nissan, the day did not really follow. The procedure of
0:07:23 > 0:07:31inspection in Japan. That's been the case because many of those companies
0:07:31 > 0:07:42are getting used to 20 or 30 years of traditional practice. They are
0:07:42 > 0:07:51providing -- it is busy. These different factors relating to those
0:07:51 > 0:07:53companies and the procedure of inspections, but it does not
0:07:53 > 0:08:03necessarily mean that there is an immediate threat.The end of an era,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07the Hong Kong stock exchange will close the trading floor after 31
0:08:07 > 0:08:11years on Friday. In its heyday, the floor was home to more than 1000
0:08:11 > 0:08:17stockbrokers but the rise of electronic and Internet training has
0:08:17 > 0:08:19changed the industry.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29FUNKY MUSIC
0:08:32 > 0:08:38TRANSLATION:The world is changing, financial technology is changing. We
0:08:38 > 0:08:48should get with The Times, even if we don't want to go.TRANSLATION:I
0:08:48 > 0:08:52started as a broker after finishing school. It's been over 40 years.
0:08:52 > 0:08:59They used to be four exchanges. It combined to become one exchange in
0:08:59 > 0:09:081986, and we moved into this hole. -- wall. We have a deep affinity
0:09:08 > 0:09:13with the place. We work together side by side chatting all to
0:09:16 > 0:09:19-- chatting all day. At the time, the electronic trading system was
0:09:19 > 0:09:24not as developed as it is now. All transactions had to go through a
0:09:24 > 0:09:29centralised system. There were thousands of people here. Printers
0:09:29 > 0:09:36were running all the time. It was a noisy and busy atmosphere. We
0:09:36 > 0:09:43started as just a small regional stock exchange. Then it became an
0:09:43 > 0:09:49international financial centre. Stockbrokers have gone through
0:09:49 > 0:09:53countless financial crises that we have persevered. Stockbrokers make
0:09:53 > 0:10:02great contributions. This is something we are very proud of.Next
0:10:02 > 0:10:07hour, we will be speaking to Juliana at the stock exchange. Stay tuned
0:10:07 > 0:10:11for that. In the markets... This is how Asia has opened.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20We will continue to monitor shares in Kobe steel and Nissan as well.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24That's all for this edition of Asia Business Report. Sport Today is
0:10:24 > 0:10:25coming up next.