06/06/2014

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:00:00. > :00:00.havoc on fisheries and crops. Those are the late at headlines. Now for

:00:00. > :00:18.the latest financial news with World Business Report.

:00:19. > :00:32.It is a thumbs up from Wall Street as investors cheer on cuts by the

:00:33. > :00:35.European Central bank. Plus, the hidden rain drain ` how corporate

:00:36. > :00:41.America is trying to get women back into the workforce.

:00:42. > :00:51.Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Aaron Heslehurst. We will be

:00:52. > :00:56.talking about the big jobs numbers outside of the US. Let's start with

:00:57. > :00:59.the market which had been celebrating the European Central

:01:00. > :01:04.Bank move to cut its main interest rate to boost the region 's flagging

:01:05. > :01:07.economy. The highlight of course ` imposing a

:01:08. > :01:10.negative interest rate on deposits for the first time, effectively

:01:11. > :01:21.charging banks to sit on their money to encourage them to lend it out.

:01:22. > :01:25.The news has been going down pretty well with investors. On Wall Street,

:01:26. > :01:30.US shares hit new all`time highs, with record closes on both the main

:01:31. > :01:36.indices. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at a record

:01:37. > :01:39.16,836.11. To put that in perspective, it's now up around 155%

:01:40. > :01:41.since its low in March, 2009, during the financial crisis, the so called

:01:42. > :02:07.bear market. If he bought in March, 2009, you did

:02:08. > :02:13.even better. Is the enthusiasm rolling through into Asian markets?

:02:14. > :02:21.Let's speak to Rico Hizon in Singapore. What are the Asian

:02:22. > :02:27.markets doing? Generally upbeat. Stocks from Hong Kong, Australia,

:02:28. > :02:34.India, all on the move. Emerging Asian currencies also strengthening

:02:35. > :02:38.versus the dollar and the euro. By reducing negative interest rates,

:02:39. > :02:42.this will make it cheaper for banks to lend money to businesses and this

:02:43. > :02:48.cheap money could find its way right here in Asia's emerging economy.

:02:49. > :02:55.Boral at 0% and invest it in high interest rate yielding products in

:02:56. > :03:00.Asia. You would be looking at Thailand, for instance. Their

:03:01. > :03:05.currency depreciated after the coup but things have stabilised.

:03:06. > :03:09.Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Singapore to a lesser extent, there

:03:10. > :03:16.are opportunities to drive a better yield. In a low velocity

:03:17. > :03:19.environment, you don't have to worry so much about adverse exchange rate

:03:20. > :03:28.movements affecting the overall yield. Indonesia's growing rate is

:03:29. > :03:34.17.5%, India at more than 8%, Australia 2.5%. In Brazil, interest

:03:35. > :03:38.rates are 11%. But there are sceptics in the region. If the cheap

:03:39. > :03:44.funding makes its way into the market, this could in `` ignite

:03:45. > :03:47.inflation or push prices higher, in turn pressuring the central banks to

:03:48. > :03:50.raise the cost of borrowing. Not good news for markets. Absolutely.

:03:51. > :03:59.There could be a flood of cheap money but it highlights this out of

:04:00. > :04:03.whack world. In the UK, in the US, the talk is all about raising. When

:04:04. > :04:08.are they going to raise interest rates? But Europe is rushing to

:04:09. > :04:14.battle stations. That's right. Moving in separate directions.

:04:15. > :04:18.That's why there are investors here who are digestive and analysing what

:04:19. > :04:23.kind of impact it will have four Asian markets. Europe is moving

:04:24. > :04:28.towards zero interest rates. Then the US federal reserve is winding

:04:29. > :04:33.down its bond buying programme. What kind of impact will it have on Asia?

:04:34. > :04:41.If we have a look at the numbers, yes Asian markets are in positive

:04:42. > :04:48.territory but not surging. There is still doubt over what kind of affect

:04:49. > :04:52.the winding down of the bond buying programme and interest raising in

:04:53. > :05:01.the US will have on Asian markets. I call it the big bazooka. Great

:05:02. > :05:10.stuff. Thank you. Turning our attention from Europe to

:05:11. > :05:16.the US. In particular, the health of its economy as markets await the

:05:17. > :05:19.monthly jobs numbers. The month of May is likely to have been good for

:05:20. > :05:30.job creation in the US because economists think American employees

:05:31. > :05:33.hired around 218,000 people. Not quite the blow`out figure seen in

:05:34. > :05:36.April, but still proof that the economy is recovering from its

:05:37. > :05:40.winter slump. The US jobless rate is likely to have ticked up to 6.4%.

:05:41. > :05:43.That could actually be seen as good news, showing that more of the

:05:44. > :05:48.long`term unemployed are starting to look for work again. Remember, many

:05:49. > :05:54.were simply off the books as they'd given up looking. One group who find

:05:55. > :05:57.it particularly hard to get back in to the work force, women who have

:05:58. > :06:02.taken time out to look after children. It's a massive but hidden

:06:03. > :06:14.brain drain on the US economy, as Samira Hussain reports.

:06:15. > :06:18.Some questions about your favourite things. Having weekday morning

:06:19. > :06:24.breakfast with her three children was, until recently, a typical start

:06:25. > :06:27.to this woman's day. Eight years ago she went from working in finance in

:06:28. > :06:33.New York City to working at home for her family. It was difficult but

:06:34. > :06:36.having young kids at home and knowing I wanted to spend more time

:06:37. > :06:46.with them may bat transition easier. But now she is ready to go

:06:47. > :06:48.back to work at an office. One company is helping her through an

:06:49. > :06:53.employment programme for women re`entering the workforce after a

:06:54. > :07:00.long absence. At the end, the hope is to get people like her back into

:07:01. > :07:07.work. That means being able to come back and leave at a time that allows

:07:08. > :07:11.me to tuck my kids into bed. Even if that means I get back online when

:07:12. > :07:17.they are asleep. But being able to sit down, read to them is imported

:07:18. > :07:22.to me. As many as 40% of women who are hardly educated and up leaving

:07:23. > :07:27.the workforce for a period of time. A massive but hidden brain drain.

:07:28. > :07:33.Retraining programmes certainly help but, for jobs, especially on Wall

:07:34. > :07:39.Street, where the hours can be gruelling, finding an office culture

:07:40. > :07:44.that is flexible enough to allow mothers a work and life balance can

:07:45. > :07:48.be tough. Somebody has to take care of the children and those elderly

:07:49. > :07:52.parents and that typically falls on women. If you do have family, if you

:07:53. > :07:57.do have elderly parents and you want to come back to work, you need a

:07:58. > :08:02.measure of flexibility and that's very difficult to find in many

:08:03. > :08:08.workplaces. A few other banks are offering similar training. But, with

:08:09. > :08:12.so many women struggling to get back into the workplace, for there to be

:08:13. > :08:20.real change these programmes would need to be the norm and not the

:08:21. > :08:25.exception. Those job numbers will be out in

:08:26. > :08:28.about six hours. In other news, General Motors has accepted the

:08:29. > :08:32.findings of a report into recalls of its Chevrolet Cobalt, calling it

:08:33. > :08:36."deeply troubling". GM took more than a decade to recall 2.6 million

:08:37. > :08:39.cars over faulty ignition switches that it admits caused at least 13

:08:40. > :08:45.deaths. Lawyers suing the firm put the death toll at over 60.

:08:46. > :08:48.Chief Executive Mary Barra said the Cobalt saga was riddled with

:08:49. > :08:54.failures and that 15 employees have been fired. GM is launching a

:08:55. > :08:57.compensation fund for crash victims and their families.

:08:58. > :09:08.President Obama has dismissed suggestions he may help French bank

:09:09. > :09:14.BNP Paribas, which is accused of violating the US sanctions and

:09:15. > :09:16.facing a fine of up to $10 billion. France's President Hollande has

:09:17. > :09:19.called the possible fine disproportionate, raising the issue

:09:20. > :09:21.during talks between the two ahead of D`Day anniversary ceremonies in

:09:22. > :09:24.Northern France. According to reports US regulators are also

:09:25. > :09:26.pushing for the bank's chief operating officer to be sacked as

:09:27. > :09:36.part of the settlement Bills `` settlement. Now for a quick look at

:09:37. > :09:41.the markets. Everybody keeping an eye on those jobs numbers, when they

:09:42. > :09:43.come out, from the US. The euro dropped slightly after the

:09:44. > :09:49.announcement yesterday from the ECB but moved back up. Follow me on

:09:50. > :10:01.Twitter. I will be back later to have a look at the papers from

:10:02. > :10:03.around the world. Many of us can look up most nights and see this

:10:04. > :10:05.familiar sight, but have you