0:00:00 > 0:00:00Theresa May has suffered a narrow defeat on a key vote
0:00:00 > 0:00:01on the Brexit bill.
0:00:01 > 0:00:06It means terms for a final deal need to be approved by a new law passed
0:00:06 > 0:00:06by parliament.
0:00:06 > 0:00:17Now on BBC News all the latest business news live from Singapore.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22A third rate hike in 2017. The US Central Bank raises interest rates
0:00:22 > 0:00:28at its final policy meeting for the year. And the head of a key vote
0:00:28 > 0:00:33over the Internet, we tell you why the new net neutrality rules matters
0:00:33 > 0:00:45to American businesses. Good morning, Asia. Hello, world. It is a
0:00:45 > 0:00:53Thursday. Glad you could join us. We saw the world's most powerful
0:00:53 > 0:00:57Central Bank is continuing to tighten monetary policy, the Federal
0:00:57 > 0:01:03Reserve raising short-term borrowing costs or the third time this year,
0:01:03 > 0:01:08this time by 0.25%. Janet Yellen said the decision was made following
0:01:08 > 0:01:14a set of positive numbers.Following a slowdown in the first quarter,
0:01:14 > 0:01:19economic growth stepped up to a solid 3.25% pace in the second and
0:01:19 > 0:01:22third quarters of the year. Household spending has been
0:01:22 > 0:01:29expanding at a moderate rate. Business investment has picked up on
0:01:29 > 0:01:33favourable economic conditions abroad have supported exports.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Overall, we continue to expect the economy will expand at a moderate
0:01:37 > 0:01:44pace.Investors in the US market is excited about this latest
0:01:44 > 0:01:47development with the Dow Jones industrial average soaring by 80
0:01:47 > 0:01:57points to a new record high. As the US currency, it is up against the
0:01:57 > 0:02:03majors. As for Asia, not much movement in Japan or Australia.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Earlier, I spoke to our business reporter in Washington who said
0:02:06 > 0:02:10while the decision was expected, questions remain over whether the
0:02:10 > 0:02:16Federer can reach its inflation targets. -- whether the Federal
0:02:16 > 0:02:21Reserve.This was the third rate hike this year on the fifth since
0:02:21 > 0:02:25the GST and the reasons for it according to Janet Yellen are
0:02:25 > 0:02:30addressed a press conference some time ago are essentially a continued
0:02:30 > 0:02:34confidence in economic growth in America so we've seen economic
0:02:34 > 0:02:39growth of more than 3%. Also, good news from the Labour market.
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Unemployment at a 17- year low and those are the reasons why the
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Federal Reserve decided to go ahead with this rate hike. It's keeping
0:02:47 > 0:02:51with the policy to gradually increase rates and try to return
0:02:51 > 0:02:55with the situation as it was before the crisis.Continued economic
0:02:55 > 0:03:04growth. There is speculation that the Federal Reserve could raise
0:03:04 > 0:03:08between three and four times in 2018. There are projections of three
0:03:08 > 0:03:14rate cuts next year and three in 2019 but of course, there are
0:03:14 > 0:03:20uncertainties for Janet Yellen's successor, John Powell, who takes
0:03:20 > 0:03:28over in February. One uncertainty is that tax bill. Eventually there will
0:03:28 > 0:03:31be one consolidated version that Donald Trump signs on but what kind
0:03:31 > 0:03:37of impact will that tax bill have on the economy? That is the uncertainty
0:03:37 > 0:03:41that will hang over Jerome Powell when he takes over the chair. Janet
0:03:41 > 0:03:48Yellen steps down in February. Her legacy?In many ways, she has
0:03:48 > 0:03:53already made history as the first woman to be the chair but apart from
0:03:53 > 0:03:58that, and economic legacy. If you just go buy a survey done with The
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Wall Street Journal were they asked economists how they would rate hurt
0:04:01 > 0:04:07more than 60% rated her, they gave it a great which means she has done
0:04:07 > 0:04:13a good job. Certainly the economy, strong economic growth. Unemployment
0:04:13 > 0:04:21at a 17- yellow. But there have been problem areas. Below the 2% target
0:04:21 > 0:04:27that the Federal Reserve sets.Hong Kong's de facto Central Bank has
0:04:27 > 0:04:37raised interest rates. The monetary authority raised points to 1.75%.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42Hong Kong tracks US rate moves because its currency is pegged to
0:04:42 > 0:04:46the US dollar. The US communications regulator is expected to vote to
0:04:46 > 0:04:51overturn net neutrality. If this is overturned it might mean Internet
0:04:51 > 0:04:56service providers could charge companies more for their content to
0:04:56 > 0:04:59be accessed at better speeds creating something like Internet
0:04:59 > 0:05:04fast lanes and slow lanes. A controversial topic but how much is
0:05:04 > 0:05:08the American public know these issues? We asked the people in
0:05:08 > 0:05:12Washington, DC.
0:05:12 > 0:05:19Have you heard of it before? No. The more you pay for Internet, the more
0:05:19 > 0:05:21you've got the past year and it will work.
0:05:21 > 0:05:26I do not know anything about neutrality.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Companies like Commcast or the other Internet providers are going to put
0:05:30 > 0:05:35a higher premium. I just heard the term. It's so
0:05:35 > 0:05:38corporations can make it slower to connect to certain sites.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43I did see the piece on John Oliver but I don't remember.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Net neutrality is actually hugely important.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50In India they have tried to do this also had a lot of people don't like
0:05:50 > 0:05:55it. All Internet traffic is treated the
0:05:55 > 0:05:59same matter where it's come from, where it's going or what it's doing.
0:05:59 > 0:06:06That's something we call net neutrality. Internet service
0:06:06 > 0:06:09providers might be able to intentionally slow down your
0:06:09 > 0:06:14Internet connection unless you pay more for things like video streaming
0:06:14 > 0:06:18or they warn that could be some kind of Internet fast lane where big rich
0:06:18 > 0:06:23companies could pay to make sure their sites loaded quickly while
0:06:23 > 0:06:26other smaller sites would be stuck in a slow lane instead.OK,
0:06:26 > 0:06:37interesting. It should be fair and equal for all.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Basically, it's taking down our freedoms.
0:06:41 > 0:06:48The same amount, it shouldn't be different different websites.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52As far as larger companies being able to pay more to have access to
0:06:52 > 0:06:56your content little easier, I'm not sure I agree with that.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01It's the Internet. Everybody should have access and actually have the
0:07:01 > 0:07:06same speed no matter what side you are looking at all going to.
0:07:06 > 0:07:12Well, this is the house of Mickey Mouse. It's now the sole bidder the
0:07:12 > 0:07:1721st Century Fox's entertainment assets after Commcast dropped out
0:07:17 > 0:07:21and according to some reports, Disney Fox could announce a deal as
0:07:21 > 0:07:27early as later today Thursday in the United States. For more on this
0:07:27 > 0:07:37potential megadeal I'm joined by Timothy McDonald. Will it happen?It
0:07:37 > 0:07:43is anybody's guess. Even if it does go through, the regulators will look
0:07:43 > 0:07:48at it quite closely. This might be the house of Mickey Mouse but they
0:07:48 > 0:07:54are not Mickey Mouse players. It is very as is this. Potentially a $60
0:07:54 > 0:08:00billion deal. We are talking about potentially 30- 40% of US box
0:08:00 > 0:08:07office. 30% of movie-goers see a product from either company. This
0:08:07 > 0:08:14seems to be driven by streaming. The entrance of big players like Netflix
0:08:14 > 0:08:20on Amazon. You might render the CEO of Disney decided to pull Disney's
0:08:20 > 0:08:24content of Netflix in advance of launching their own streaming
0:08:24 > 0:08:31service. With this deal potentially Sydney would also gain control in --
0:08:31 > 0:08:36the controlling interest in another streaming service, Hulu, in addition
0:08:36 > 0:08:41to the one it is launching for itself. It would be taking on the
0:08:41 > 0:08:46Amazon and Netflix types on two fronts. I guess the other thing is
0:08:46 > 0:08:53what it might mean for Fox because they would be selling off a lot of
0:08:53 > 0:08:57deadbeat assets. Potentially Fox Studios are some of the Crown
0:08:57 > 0:09:03jewels. Maybe Rupert Murdoch is going back to his first love, the
0:09:03 > 0:09:09news business.Looking forward to a potential megadeal in the industry.
0:09:09 > 0:09:18The South Korean President, Moon Jae-in is in China improving
0:09:18 > 0:09:24relations. China was upset so it banned travel agencies from selling
0:09:24 > 0:09:29packaged tour is and that really hurt South Korean businesses because
0:09:29 > 0:09:35visitors from China made up nearly half of tourists last year. China
0:09:35 > 0:09:41partly lifted the ban last month but the damage has been done. The
0:09:41 > 0:09:46tourist industry is estimated to have lost $6.5 billion. Earlier, I
0:09:46 > 0:09:50spoke to an economist who said the economy of South Korea continues to
0:09:50 > 0:09:55do pretty well despite a dent in the tourism industry.South Korea has
0:09:55 > 0:09:59been doing a lot better than most analysts expected at the beginning
0:09:59 > 0:10:08of the year. A lot of that has come from government support. The
0:10:08 > 0:10:10government has been quite accommodating. With that fiscal
0:10:10 > 0:10:21stimuli since 2014 and its obviously perked up domestic demand as well.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Talking about frosty relations between China and South Korea. And
0:10:25 > 0:10:30as if this edition of Asia Business Report. Follow us on Twitter. Great
0:10:30 > 0:10:32to have you with us.