15/02/2018 Asia Business Report

to those still opposed to Brexit

and says it's cause for hope not

fear.

Now on BBC News, all the latest

business news live from Singapore.

US stocks shrugged off the latest

inflation report despite worries

that rising prices would trigger

more rate hikes. We will find out

why. And as Donald Trump cracks down

on immigration, the spouses of

thousands of Asian immigrants

working there could soon lose their

jobs. Good morning, Asia. Hello,

world. It is the eve of Chinese New

Year. Glad you could join us. We

have been waiting for this piece of

data all week. The latest inflation

number from the world's biggest

economy. American consumer prices

rising farther than expected in

January, balancing up by 0.5%.

Economists were expecting a rise by

0.3%. In increased by 2.1%, the same

pace as the month of December. This

time, markets were shaken by the

numbers. The NASDAQ gaining 1.9%.

Our business reporter Joe Miller

explains why.

Job numbers we got a

couple of weeks ago are up. People

have more money to spend. Really,

this is quite good news and that may

explain why in the markets haven't

really reacted in the way we

thought. My inbox has been full all

week with Wall Street analysts

saying if inflation figures were

higher than expected, you would see

another sell-off like last week but

it hasn't happened and that is

because 2.1% in the year of

inflation is a normal figure for an

economy doing well.

Tens of

thousands of Indian and Chinese

women in America could soon lose

their right to work as President

Trump looks to overturn another

policy from the Obama era. In 2015

the US government granted the

spouses of highly skilled immigrants

the right to work. Most of these

foreign workers come from India and

China and the men are liars --

largely holding the primary visas.

America is the only home her

children have ever known. Neham

Majan migrated from India a year

ago. Her husband is on these of a

highly skilled workers and as a

spouse, she was given the right for

the first time ever to work in this

country. Now, President Trump hopes

to revoke that.

I am getting back

into a holding cage. -- it feels

like I am. It's as if they are

sending a message to me that my

skill sets and ability don't matter

in this world and I should live the

life of a homemaker than being a

contributing member of the society.

Earlier this month she was among a

group of Indians who gathered

outside the US capital. Tens of

thousands of women from India and

China are most impacted by the

proposed change because the number

of immigrants from these countries

are high in the primary visa holders

are normally men. This is a little

bit of India in New Jersey just

outside of New York. It is one place

where Indians with technical skills

have really thrived over the

decades, living the American dream

and employers have benefited too

because hiring foreigners is

cheaper. The Obama administration's

decision to allow spouses of foreign

workers to get a job was opposed by

some groups. It was even challenged

in court. A case that might be

rendered irrelevant now, given the

new president's views.

That's

something Trump has been vocal

about. He wants jobs for Americans

and wages to increase. If you keep

bringing in more workers, the

employer wins, he gets cheaper

Labour but that does not help the

American worker.

For many who make

the journey from India, a country

with social pressures often forced

women to quit jobs. The idea that

America would deny them that right

is hard to come to terms with.

Jacob Zuma has agreed to resign,

avoiding a no-confidence vote

planned for the same date. We

explain what all this uncertainty is

doing to the country's currency, the

rand.

The rand will sit as a

stagnant level as they wait this

change of leadership for more

business friendly leadership and

that hope, perhaps we're not going

to see too much movement in the rand

but if things go pear shaped in the

current state President digs in his

heels and refuses to resign and

things become chaotic, analysts, as

they say, will see movements as much

as four, 5% in the rand.

One of

India's biggest banks as detected

fraud in one of its branches and are

concerns the scandal could spread to

other banks. We are joined by our

business correspondent in India

Devina Gupta.

There is a big loop

all in the system that has been

exposed by this scandal. According

to initial investigation, bank

employers from the Punjab National

bank were given a letter undertaking

that is guaranteed that a leading

luxury jeweller can be given loans

on the basis of that and they were

leased 30 banks which trusted this

guarantee given by the bank. The

only difference is, these employers

did not register the guarantee

interbank books which led to about

$1.8 billion going out of the system

without any record.

How big a blow

is this to the banking industry?

Well, in India, at least 70% of the

banking system is owned by the

government and a fall of the

second-largest government bank with

its employees taking advantage of

the system speaks of big trouble

because at least 30 banks. The

government is looking at cleaning up

bad loans in the system. They need

to start by looking at the scandal

very closely.

They given an update.

-- thank you for an update. Cisco

Systems has beaten expectations on

its latest earning report. Revenues

jumping for the first time in two

years as the company starts to shift

to a software focused company. Cisco

also announced a $25 billion share

buyback plan helping send shares up

more than 5% in after-hours trading.

Workers at General Motors factory in

South Korea have protested after the

automaker said it would shut down

the plant earlier this week. The

factory in Gunsan had been

struggling and was running a 20%

capacity in recent years. The moves

to revamp its loss-making South

Korean odds -- operations a series

of steps to boost profit ability.

Finally some good news for Toshiba.

It's got a new boss and it's likely

to have made money for the first

time in four years. I am joined by

my colleague Marika Oi. It seems the

fortunes of Toshiba are turning

around in the Year of the Dog.

Every

time we talked about Toshiba, it was

bad. The accounting scandal, the

mounting loss of the nuclear

division, and there were read and

fears that the company could be

delisted from the Tokyo stock

exchange because of this ballooning

loss. As you say, some good news.

The company now has a new boss

starting in April. I think we can

show you the picture of the new

boss. He is Nobuaki Kurumatani, and

has even worked with ko, which was

at the heart of the Fukushima

nuclear disaster. -- TEPCO. He looks

like a man on a mission. He is,

because his first task is to make

sure the sale of the chip business,

which makes money for Toshiba, goes

smoothly. It is a controversial deal

and some people have opposed it but

Toshiba really needs that sale to go

ahead. It needs the money. As you

mentioned, the company has also said

it may have made money for the first

time in the fiscal year ending in

March for the first time in four

years which is good news. That means

the company would avoid being

delisted.

All right, it looks like

it will be a good year for Toshiba

with this new Chief Executive.

Marika Oi, how business report. A

quick look at the market 's before

we go. It is the eve of Chinese New

Year. I'm sure that traders are

smiling from ear to ear. You have

Australia gaining 0.6%. But the

Chinese and South Korean markets are

closed today due to the Lunar New

Year holidays. Have great Thursday,

everyone. Sport Today is up next.