03/11/2017 Asia Business Report

For the first time in more

than a decade, the Bank of England

has increased interest rates.

Let's get more of the business news

from or with Sharanjit Leyl.

It's official. The White House

nominates to Rowen Powell as the new

Fed chief. What will it mean for the

markets? -- Jerome Powell. Would you

drink beer with bacteria that is

meant to be good for you? We check

out a new beer in town. Welcome to

Asia Business Report, I am Sharanjit

Leyl. After weeks of speculation,

the White House has announced its

nomination for this man, Jerome

Powell, to be the next chairman of

the US Federal Reserve. His

nomination needs to be confirmed by

the Senate. Janet Yellen's term

expires in February. I asked our

North American business

correspondence what she knows about

his pick.

He is a former investment

banker. He brings something that

Donald Trump doubt -- touted in the

Rose Garden. Basically referencing

the idea that he has some real

world, job experience to bring to

the job. This ties into the

criticism. He wanted to see change

at the Federal Reserve and it ties

into complaints after the financial

crisis. Perhaps the Federal Reserve

had gone too far. Having someone

with a Wall Street background could

have a big impact going forward as

to what the rules and regulations

might look like because that is part

of the Central Bank's mandate. The

other thing that his departure is he

doesn't have a deep background in

economics. He is not a Ph.D.. But it

is certainly something of note.

The

status do that is a bit of a

departure from its predecessor. Will

there be any surprises in the

Federal Reserve's move to raise

rates?

If you look at the reaction

from investors, in their mind, the

nomination of Jerome Powell means

that volatility, the kind of

uncertainty has been removed. They

expect it will continue on the path

that Janet Yellen has set, which is

to gradually raise interest rates. I

was talking to someone who made an

interesting point which is history

shows that usually, financial crises

don't tend to repeat themselves. We

don't know what the next one will

look like -- will look like. In that

sense, the status quo candidate may

not actually turn out to be a

positive but again, it's too soon to

tell and as things currently stand,

we don't know what dangers lie in

the waters ahead.

That was our North

American business correspondence

Michelle Fleury. Apple shares hit a

new record high after a quarterly

profit of $10.7 billion but it isn't

all good news. US chipmaker Qualcomm

is suing.

Apple logs its best

quarterly result in two years and

has new iPhone models coming out. We

saw pictures of camping out for the

new iPhone X which might help it

become $1 trillion company.

Quarterly sales rose in China

because it lifts the fortunes of all

of Apple's suppliers. That is why

this legal spat with Qualcomm is not

good for business. This legal

dispute, Qualcomm accused Apple

allowing access to its rival Intel.

Qualcomm is using its market

dominance to bully its competitors

and overcharge its customers so we

are seeing reports coming out that

Apple may look to drop Qualcomm to

some of its suppliers -- or some of

its devices so Qualcomm might not

provide chips for the iPhone or

right hand.

We know this isn't the

only legal tussle that Apple is

involved is.

The other one is over

technology licensing. But Apple has

been fighting Samsung for many

years. Apple 1 $1 billion in damages

from Samsung but Samsung's lawyers

managed to whittle it down to $400

million but that case will go to

trial once again whether lawyers of

Samsung might be able to bring the

figure down further or reach a

settlement.

Starbucks has announced

an agreement to sell Tazo to

Unilever after disappointing sales.

The copy chain posted underwhelming

quarterly earnings -- earnings due

to smelling foot traffic, changing

dining habits and the impact of

hurricanes hardly and Irma. It is

focusing on Asia as North American

sales shrink. China's macro --

Alibaba reported profit way above

expectations. The non-stop growth

has seen shares more than double

this year but it's not all just one

big retail operation for the

e-commerce giant. It has also been

branching out to diversify in new

areas like cloud services, financing

and logistics. Earlier, I asked a

senior market analyst at what she

thought led to its growth.

There are

growth in other aspects of its

business but most of it comes from

its core business and a seat coming

from three aspects. How it has

managed to increase its product

offerings. Secondly, I see new

retail. Essentially, increasing

efficiency. Cost in international

business. We see how it has

increased its offerings to more

Southeast Asian countries and

international business.

You

mentioned its rivals. Will Alibaba

be the undisputed leader in

e-commerce in China? Can these

results be sustained? Does it have

to do with competition?

I think

Alibaba has a huge advantage. It has

its own payment platform.

And what

about the vision of Jack Ma for

Alibaba? What is your plan to do?

Is

larger vision is to use data to

drive logistics. We see this in the

earnings announcement. There is now

the majority stakeholder. Using

dated to drive more efficient

logistics. That is how we see the

link to the blending, using

essentially efficiency.

Singaporean scientists have brewed a

probiotic beer they say can improve

the health and boost the immune

system. There is nothing like a cold

beer on a hot day and it's even

better when it is supposedly good

for you. Scientists in Singapore

have developed a brew that contains

probiotics, bacteria that is known

to aid digestive and an improved the

Moon system. This scientist has been

experiencing -- experimenting with a

recipe for almost a year.

I thought

it would be interesting to do

something that is outside the box

and come up with a product that

people have not thought of before.

Every 100 millimetres, just over a

mouthful, contains about 1 billion

probiotic organisms. Slightly sour.

I'm getting a hint of grapefruit

coming through. It's quite

refreshing. Is there a market for

it?

Cheers. It could do well to them

to target it to women in the initial

phase because women in general are

more health conscious when it comes

to drinks and also, we see that

women are a lot more adventurous in

trying new products.

The researchers

have filed patents are now hoping

that by the end of next year, the

brew will be available at a pub near

you. Soon enough, having a pint may

help your gut stay healthy. All in

moderation, of course.

I tell you what, other investors

have been toasting those record

gains on Wall Street which continues

to filter into the age -- the Asian

market. The All Ordinaries over in

Australia also making games, May --

mainly due to mining and resources

stocks. That is