:00:02. > :00:12.in Asia. Now it is time for the latest
:00:12. > :00:13.
:00:13. > :00:20.financial news. Here is World Business Report.
:00:20. > :00:23.A very warm welcome. The headlines: Under pressure - the European
:00:23. > :00:28.Central Bank is urged to spend billions of euros to help
:00:28. > :00:38.struggling nations. A smartphone bonanza, not here is a
:00:38. > :00:41.
:00:41. > :00:46.amongst the firms launching new gadgets this week -- Nokia. Beijing
:00:46. > :00:53.is tipped to introduce more measures to support China's slowing
:00:53. > :00:58.economy. Once again, pressure is piling on
:00:58. > :01:01.the European Central Bank to take action over Europe's debt crisis.
:01:01. > :01:04.Both Spanish prime minister and the head of a highly respected think
:01:04. > :01:08.tank have called on the bank to spend billions of euros buying up
:01:08. > :01:11.Central Central Bank will hold a meeting on
:01:11. > :01:15.Thursday and policy makers are likely to discuss whether to make
:01:15. > :01:19.the move. This would involve buying up debts of struggling nations like
:01:19. > :01:23.Spain and Italy, which would help to drive do to drive docosts.
:01:23. > :01:31.On Sunday, Spain's Prime Minister urged the Bank to go ahead with
:01:31. > :01:34.such a programme. In an interview with the German
:01:34. > :01:37.newspaper, the minister said that a joint currency cannot function when
:01:37. > :01:42.there are such differences in the cost of borrowing.
:01:42. > :01:47.A prominent think tank said the euro is at risk and the ECB should
:01:47. > :01:53.step in and help. To make sense of this I am joined by the head of
:01:53. > :02:00.credit research at Legal and General.
:02:00. > :02:06.A lot at stake here. What are you expecting on Thursday? He would be
:02:06. > :02:10.able to get away with not announcing anything. It is up to
:02:10. > :02:15.questioning how far they can go. There is a big rift in the ECB
:02:15. > :02:19.about the likelihood or suitable extent of any unusual measures such
:02:19. > :02:22.as direct intervention in the bond market. It will be difficult for
:02:22. > :02:29.the ECB to stay completely silent on the subject. The market is now
:02:29. > :02:34.set up for some kind of delivery of a package. The questions will be -
:02:34. > :02:39.will a country have to apply for? Will the programme be unlimited in
:02:39. > :02:45.terms of time and size? This bond buying idea, which has been talked
:02:45. > :02:49.about quite a bit before, if that is what the announcement is - a lot
:02:49. > :02:53.of people are saying that Spain and Italy, if they wanted help from the
:02:53. > :03:00.ECB, will have to go through the bailout funding first, which means
:03:00. > :03:07.conditions will be attached. That is true, and that is the thinking
:03:08. > :03:12.of the Germany viewpoint, which says that the ECB is not supposed
:03:12. > :03:18.to fund governments. This will be a breach of its mandate if it were to,
:03:18. > :03:24.more or less, without any constraints, stepping in any way it
:03:24. > :03:26.sees appropriate. One wonders why they should be such a big problem -
:03:26. > :03:30.but let's not forget we have already had a number of countries
:03:30. > :03:34.asking for help. They were then given aid in return for some
:03:34. > :03:38.conditionality. Some countries have these conditions working better
:03:38. > :03:40.than others, but in principle that should be possible. We have the
:03:40. > :03:45.country of Spain here which is resisting the thought of having to
:03:45. > :03:49.ask for help. Of course they would like to get some relief without the
:03:49. > :03:53.humiliation of having to ask for help. That is basically what this
:03:53. > :03:58.is about. If it wasn't for Spain, we wouldn't have that debate.
:03:58. > :04:03.is your view on what the ECB should do? There is a big rift about the
:04:03. > :04:07.actions it should take. The head of the Bundesbank for example, last
:04:07. > :04:13.week was saying he will resign over this, possibly. He has been
:04:13. > :04:16.encouraged by German leaders not to do so. I am noticing Germany's
:04:16. > :04:19.economy minister threw his weight behind the Bundesbank chief over
:04:19. > :04:28.the weekend in the German press, saying that he is right to be
:04:28. > :04:34.concerned about this. Well, the ECB will not be alone in pursuing such
:04:34. > :04:38.unconventional measures. As we have heard, a few days ago the Fed was
:04:38. > :04:42.contemplating more quantitative easing and the Bank of England has
:04:42. > :04:46.more or less done the same. Therefore, central banks are going
:04:46. > :04:50.down this path even though it is not effective, so far. It has a
:04:50. > :04:54.really helped. What about the fear of inflation - that is one of the
:04:54. > :04:57.fears. That is perfectly correct. We had numbers from the eurozone
:04:57. > :05:02.last week that were disappointing. The energy price hike didn't help,
:05:02. > :05:12.but the weakness of the euro, which will be exacerbated by a limited
:05:12. > :05:15.
:05:15. > :05:19.bond buying, to say the least, -- Unlimited... These risks are
:05:19. > :05:25.serious. Therefore, some compromise has to be achieved and possibly
:05:25. > :05:28.Spain has to just ask for help. Thank you for your time. I
:05:28. > :05:32.appreciate you making sense of that. We will be across all the
:05:32. > :05:34.developments on the BBC. The world's big mobile-phone
:05:34. > :05:40.companies have begun an unprecedented series of product
:05:40. > :05:44.launches. Samsung and bailed to make devices last week. Starting on
:05:44. > :05:47.Wednesday, Microsoft, Motorola, Amazon and Apple were also launched
:05:47. > :05:51.new phones or tablet computers. Some of them see a fresh
:05:51. > :05:56.opportunity to take market share in the wake of Apple's victory against
:05:56. > :06:02.Samsung. Back in 2005, Nokia phones were the
:06:02. > :06:12.most Bottle-O on the planet. When Samsung introduced a clam shell
:06:12. > :06:18.style Shell, Nokia began a fall from grace. The new phone from
:06:18. > :06:28.Nokia on Wednesday could revitalise the country. It will use the
:06:28. > :06:29.
:06:29. > :06:32.Windows aid system, that allows sharing through other devices. -- 8.
:06:32. > :06:37.Coupled with the new Microsoft operating system, which will be
:06:37. > :06:41.windows 8, that brings it up to the standard of Apple and Google.
:06:41. > :06:47.not to be undone, Apple has a launch next week as well, expected
:06:47. > :06:54.to be a new iPhone. Later in autumn, a new iPad, thought to be a
:06:54. > :06:57.miniature. Up to now, one of Apple's advantages is that
:06:57. > :07:01.customers wanting to buy content have had to do it on other Apple
:07:01. > :07:06.devices. Anyone wanting to challenge Apple will have to make
:07:06. > :07:11.it just as easy for customers to view their apps, Games and videos
:07:11. > :07:16.elsewhere. For exactly that reason, the key to the phone market could
:07:16. > :07:26.be the operating systems rather than the Hearn said. That could
:07:26. > :07:27.
:07:27. > :07:33.lead the three US tech giants as the ultimate winners -- handset.
:07:33. > :07:40.Google, with its Android platform, is more open. Microsoft, with
:07:40. > :07:45.windows 82 is a great platform. When rivalry is so fierce, anything
:07:45. > :07:52.can happen. Last week, Samsung released two new devices in Berlin.
:07:52. > :07:56.They even be Nokia with the first Windows 8 phone. Not everyone will
:07:56. > :08:00.be a winner. In particular, questions are being asked of
:08:00. > :08:03.blackberry. In contrast to the hurry been shown by its rivals,
:08:03. > :08:13.research in motion is not planning to launch its new device until some
:08:13. > :08:13.
:08:13. > :08:17.time in 2013. China's benefactor in sector is
:08:17. > :08:26.making headlines. It is a key piece of the global economy and it is
:08:26. > :08:30.slowing down. Tell us more about what is happening in China.
:08:30. > :08:35.Well, the number is 49.2 in the month of August and that is the
:08:35. > :08:40.lowest number since November. Any reading below 50 indicates a
:08:40. > :08:44.contraction. New orders and factory output are down. This is another
:08:44. > :08:47.sign the Chinese economy is competing with the slowdown.
:08:47. > :08:51.Economists believe that this improves the case for Beijing to
:08:51. > :08:54.introduce more measures to strengthen the economy. Also the
:08:54. > :08:57.possibility of more rate cuts - is giving Asian investors the
:08:57. > :09:02.opportunity and the impetus to cautiously buy-back stocks right
:09:02. > :09:06.now. We are seeing Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia in
:09:06. > :09:16.positive territory. Denver 90, he is keeping the door open for
:09:16. > :09:22.
:09:22. > :09:27.further stimulus -- Ben Bernanke. 90... The US jobs data is also due
:09:27. > :09:32.this week, that is keeping investors on the sidelines.
:09:32. > :09:37.Let's show you the market quickly - the impact of that news on the
:09:37. > :09:41.share markets in Asia has seen Japan turn a corner. When I last
:09:41. > :09:45.looked at this it was down, but it has gained some ground in the last