03/09/2012 World Business Report

in Asia. Now it is time for the latest

financial news. Here is World Business Report.

A very warm welcome. The headlines: Under pressure - the European

Central Bank is urged to spend billions of euros to help

struggling nations. A smartphone bonanza, not here is a

amongst the firms launching new gadgets this week -- Nokia. Beijing

is tipped to introduce more measures to support China's slowing

economy. Once again, pressure is piling on

the European Central Bank to take action over Europe's debt crisis.

Both Spanish prime minister and the head of a highly respected think

tank have called on the bank to spend billions of euros buying up

Central Central Bank will hold a meeting on

Thursday and policy makers are likely to discuss whether to make

the move. This would involve buying up debts of struggling nations like

Spain and Italy, which would help to drive do to drive docosts.

On Sunday, Spain's Prime Minister urged the Bank to go ahead with

such a programme. In an interview with the German

newspaper, the minister said that a joint currency cannot function when

there are such differences in the cost of borrowing.

A prominent think tank said the euro is at risk and the ECB should

step in and help. To make sense of this I am joined by the head of

credit research at Legal and General.

A lot at stake here. What are you expecting on Thursday? He would be

able to get away with not announcing anything. It is up to

questioning how far they can go. There is a big rift in the ECB

about the likelihood or suitable extent of any unusual measures such

as direct intervention in the bond market. It will be difficult for

the ECB to stay completely silent on the subject. The market is now

set up for some kind of delivery of a package. The questions will be -

will a country have to apply for? Will the programme be unlimited in

terms of time and size? This bond buying idea, which has been talked

about quite a bit before, if that is what the announcement is - a lot

of people are saying that Spain and Italy, if they wanted help from the

ECB, will have to go through the bailout funding first, which means

conditions will be attached. That is true, and that is the thinking

of the Germany viewpoint, which says that the ECB is not supposed

to fund governments. This will be a breach of its mandate if it were to,

more or less, without any constraints, stepping in any way it

sees appropriate. One wonders why they should be such a big problem -

but let's not forget we have already had a number of countries

asking for help. They were then given aid in return for some

conditionality. Some countries have these conditions working better

than others, but in principle that should be possible. We have the

country of Spain here which is resisting the thought of having to

ask for help. Of course they would like to get some relief without the

humiliation of having to ask for help. That is basically what this

is about. If it wasn't for Spain, we wouldn't have that debate.

is your view on what the ECB should do? There is a big rift about the

actions it should take. The head of the Bundesbank for example, last

week was saying he will resign over this, possibly. He has been

encouraged by German leaders not to do so. I am noticing Germany's

economy minister threw his weight behind the Bundesbank chief over

the weekend in the German press, saying that he is right to be

concerned about this. Well, the ECB will not be alone in pursuing such

unconventional measures. As we have heard, a few days ago the Fed was

contemplating more quantitative easing and the Bank of England has

more or less done the same. Therefore, central banks are going

down this path even though it is not effective, so far. It has a

really helped. What about the fear of inflation - that is one of the

fears. That is perfectly correct. We had numbers from the eurozone

last week that were disappointing. The energy price hike didn't help,

but the weakness of the euro, which will be exacerbated by a limited

bond buying, to say the least, -- Unlimited... These risks are

serious. Therefore, some compromise has to be achieved and possibly

Spain has to just ask for help. Thank you for your time. I

appreciate you making sense of that. We will be across all the

developments on the BBC. The world's big mobile-phone

companies have begun an unprecedented series of product

launches. Samsung and bailed to make devices last week. Starting on

Wednesday, Microsoft, Motorola, Amazon and Apple were also launched

new phones or tablet computers. Some of them see a fresh

opportunity to take market share in the wake of Apple's victory against

Samsung. Back in 2005, Nokia phones were the

most Bottle-O on the planet. When Samsung introduced a clam shell

style Shell, Nokia began a fall from grace. The new phone from

Nokia on Wednesday could revitalise the country. It will use the

Windows aid system, that allows sharing through other devices. -- 8.

Coupled with the new Microsoft operating system, which will be

windows 8, that brings it up to the standard of Apple and Google.

not to be undone, Apple has a launch next week as well, expected

to be a new iPhone. Later in autumn, a new iPad, thought to be a

miniature. Up to now, one of Apple's advantages is that

customers wanting to buy content have had to do it on other Apple

devices. Anyone wanting to challenge Apple will have to make

it just as easy for customers to view their apps, Games and videos

elsewhere. For exactly that reason, the key to the phone market could

be the operating systems rather than the Hearn said. That could

lead the three US tech giants as the ultimate winners -- handset.

Google, with its Android platform, is more open. Microsoft, with

windows 82 is a great platform. When rivalry is so fierce, anything

can happen. Last week, Samsung released two new devices in Berlin.

They even be Nokia with the first Windows 8 phone. Not everyone will

be a winner. In particular, questions are being asked of

blackberry. In contrast to the hurry been shown by its rivals,

research in motion is not planning to launch its new device until some

time in 2013. China's benefactor in sector is

making headlines. It is a key piece of the global economy and it is

slowing down. Tell us more about what is happening in China.

Well, the number is 49.2 in the month of August and that is the

lowest number since November. Any reading below 50 indicates a

contraction. New orders and factory output are down. This is another

sign the Chinese economy is competing with the slowdown.

Economists believe that this improves the case for Beijing to

introduce more measures to strengthen the economy. Also the

possibility of more rate cuts - is giving Asian investors the

opportunity and the impetus to cautiously buy-back stocks right

now. We are seeing Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia in

positive territory. Denver 90, he is keeping the door open for

further stimulus -- Ben Bernanke. 90... The US jobs data is also due

this week, that is keeping investors on the sidelines.

Let's show you the market quickly - the impact of that news on the

share markets in Asia has seen Japan turn a corner. When I last

looked at this it was down, but it has gained some ground in the last