28/08/2012

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:00:02. > :00:12.been affected more. A man allegedly supported s supported silitants. For

:00:12. > :00:14.

:00:14. > :00:20.the latest financial news now with Hello and a very warm welcome.

:00:20. > :00:25.You're with World Business Report. International inspectors arrive in

:00:25. > :00:31.Portugal to see if the country's fitting to the term -- sticking to

:00:32. > :00:41.figures out today show the US housing market has finally turned

:00:41. > :00:50.the corner? I'm Rico Hizon in Singapore.

:00:50. > :00:55.Slumping orders from clients of Nokia and Motorola.

:00:55. > :01:01.Good to have you with us. The focus on Europe's most debts-laden

:01:01. > :01:08.countries shifts from Greece to porch -- debt-laden countries

:01:08. > :01:13.today. Inspectors arrived for their fifth visit to Lisbon. Their

:01:13. > :01:17.mission is to see if the country is sticking to the terms of its

:01:17. > :01:20.bailout. Portugal has cut state spending, it's raised taxes and

:01:20. > :01:24.made progress with privatisation but the recession is deepening and

:01:24. > :01:29.the country could requirefort bailout help before it can return

:01:29. > :01:35.to the public bond market. Unlike Greece, Lisbon's wasted no

:01:35. > :01:39.time in getting to grips with its wayward finances. Yet the

:01:39. > :01:45.inspectors seen here on their last visit may find it's not the pace of

:01:45. > :01:49.reforms but the seemingly ever- skhrining economy and rising

:01:49. > :01:54.joblessness which may leave Lisbon well short of its targets. So what

:01:54. > :01:58.progress can Portugal point to? So far, reforms have included selling

:01:58. > :02:02.stakes in state utilities to bolster Lisbon's finances. The hope

:02:02. > :02:06.now is that Portugal will be able to hang on to its euro currency,

:02:06. > :02:10.even if Greece is forced out. Perhaps the biggest threat is a

:02:10. > :02:18.full state financial collapse across the border at its eurozone

:02:18. > :02:22.neighbour, Spain. The one big issue is bringing down the costs for

:02:22. > :02:27.Portuguese government so they can fund themselves in the market.

:02:27. > :02:34.We're going to have to see progress, progress towards a proper fiscal

:02:34. > :02:38.and banking on top of the Monetary Union and the intermediate crisis

:02:38. > :02:42.measures that are being put in place by European leaders. If these

:02:42. > :02:47.are applied to Portugal as well, they'll be quite powerful in

:02:47. > :02:51.helping them return to the markets. Today, the inspectors will start

:02:51. > :02:59.going over the country which is enduring deep hardship. It may need

:02:59. > :03:06.more time. At least another year to meet its present debt targets.

:03:06. > :03:12.Shares in Foxconn International have been hit hard today falloge

:03:12. > :03:18.their worst set of results. Nice to see you, Ricoism tell us why

:03:18. > :03:23.Foxconn is having such a tough time? Well, you have slumping

:03:23. > :03:28.orders, Sally, from clients such as Nokia and Motorola. That's why

:03:28. > :03:38.we're seeing Foxconn International Holdings' stock price plunging by

:03:38. > :03:39.

:03:39. > :03:44.almost 8%. We want to make it clear that they do not manufacture Apple

:03:44. > :03:48.products. The losses of FIH are during the January to June period

:03:48. > :03:55.with more than 10 times the amount compared to the same period last

:03:55. > :04:01.year. The first half net loss came in at $226 million US, compared to

:04:01. > :04:06.an $18 million loss a year earlier. The company is blaming slowing

:04:06. > :04:09.global demand for mobile phones, and falling prices of smartphones.

:04:09. > :04:12.Looking ahead, officials expect challenging global economic

:04:12. > :04:17.conditions and they said this will continue to cast uncertainty in the

:04:17. > :04:24.business environment. Foxconn International Holdings, a parent

:04:24. > :04:29.company, as I mentioned helps assemble Apple iPhones and iPads.

:04:29. > :04:35.Things are not looking bright for one of Warren Buffett's

:04:35. > :04:39.investments? That's right. His 10% investment in BYD which is a

:04:39. > :04:45.Chinese car-maker which also has exposure in solar panels is

:04:45. > :04:51.starting to turn sour. You have the 94% drop in first-half earnings,

:04:51. > :04:57.pushing the stock price down today more than 3%. Some analysts are

:04:57. > :05:01.saying that Buffett's halo is beginning to fade with the Chinese

:05:01. > :05:06.firm blaming the profit slide on slowing car sales, a weak domestic

:05:07. > :05:16.economy and the spreading of the eurozone debt criticise. If you

:05:16. > :05:21.take a look at its rivals, they're faring better than BYD, showing a

:05:21. > :05:26.profit gain in the first half of this year. And BYD's solar business

:05:26. > :05:30.is also suffering, Sally. They're facing pressure in the US and

:05:30. > :05:35.Europe where the Chinese are accused of undercutting the market

:05:35. > :05:40.for cheaper products. Thank you very much. Good to see you. Let's

:05:40. > :05:43.look at a team now for the health of the US economy coming out today.

:05:43. > :05:47.It's about the housing market. It will show aapartmently for the

:05:47. > :05:54.first time in a long time that there may be a turning point for

:05:54. > :05:58.the housing market. Over the past few weeks, a string of data's

:05:58. > :06:04.indicated that for years, falling property prices in America could be

:06:04. > :06:11.over. That could mean a consumer recovery beckons.

:06:11. > :06:15.Hi. How are you? Good. How are you? Kimberley is on the market. With

:06:15. > :06:20.her current home already sold, she's actively looking for a new

:06:20. > :06:25.place to live. I do feel as though houses are kind of starting to move

:06:25. > :06:29.now. I don't know if that's because I sold my house and I'm getting

:06:29. > :06:34.nervous but it does seem like you see more under contract signs as

:06:34. > :06:40.you drive along the streets. It's not just existing homes that are

:06:40. > :06:46.seeing movement, new homes are too. Behind this new housing development,

:06:46. > :06:49.the sixth largest home builder in the US. We had some of the worst

:06:49. > :06:53.housing markets we had seen in seven decades and the last four or

:06:53. > :06:57.five years it's been pretty tough. But this year it for once feels

:06:57. > :07:03.like it's not a head fake. We're actually seeing a recovery.

:07:03. > :07:09.Thoroughly signs of the beginning of a recovery. While -- The early

:07:09. > :07:12.signs of the beginning of a recovery. The shadow inventory is

:07:12. > :07:17.looming. There's still a large pipeline of foreclosures that need

:07:17. > :07:23.to be cleared. Delinquency rates have come down but they're still

:07:23. > :07:28.elevated. We'll be seeing a steady flow of distressed properties in to

:07:28. > :07:33.the market. That, coupled with the fragile US economy, means the

:07:33. > :07:37.recovery could be bumpy. It's been almost seven years since the

:07:37. > :07:41.housing bubble burst. People are looking for a reason to be

:07:41. > :07:51.optimistic. And being here surrounded by new homes being built

:07:51. > :07:56.and sold, there's a sense that some activity is reason enough to cheer.

:07:56. > :08:00.Other business stories - in the wake of Apple's US court victory

:08:00. > :08:06.over Samsung, Apple has asked a court to ban eight Samsung mobile

:08:06. > :08:10.phones in the US. It's from the Galaxy Smartphone range but does

:08:10. > :08:14.not include the S3 as this model is one of the most recent versions and

:08:14. > :08:20.was not on the market when the legal battle began. Samsung has

:08:20. > :08:26.asked the court to delete an injunction on its Galaxy Tab 10.1

:08:26. > :08:30.after the youry found it did not infringe Apple's design patent for

:08:30. > :08:34.the iPad tablet. An intense fire has spread to a third fuel tank on

:08:34. > :08:42.Monday nearly three days after an explosion killed at least 41 people

:08:42. > :08:45.and injured more than 100 people. A third tank ignited at the refinery

:08:45. > :08:50.which had been in flames since Saturday last. Officials have said

:08:50. > :08:57.a gas leak led to the blast. Investigators have yet to determine

:08:57. > :09:06.the precise causes. Philippine Airlines has ordered 54 Airbus

:09:06. > :09:12.aircraft. The orders will plia key role in revitalising travel. Airbus

:09:12. > :09:19.is expected to have offered hefty discounts as it's engulfed in an

:09:19. > :09:23.ongoing price war with Boeing. Most of the main markets in Asia seeing

:09:23. > :09:27.declines. Australia bucking the trend there at the bottom. One of

:09:27. > :09:34.the stories dominating sentiment on the market in Asia is the Japanese

:09:34. > :09:38.Government has downgraded its assessment of its gross outlook. So

:09:38. > :09:42.the world's third biggest economy, the assessment for growth there is

:09:43. > :09:46.downgraded. They're saying it could shrink this quarter because there's