05/01/2016 World Business Report

Now the latest financial news with the World Business Report.

A sharp 3% drop for China's stock markets when they opened today.

Now shares are rising as investors worldwide track the volatility.

And the sun may be setting on solar power in Las Vegas

following a move by the energy regulator to cut subsidies.

Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Sally Bundock.

Also in the programme, we will reveal to you new technology that

I will say no more than that. You have to stay with us.

Stock markets in China have recovered after opening more

Traders described the initial losses as panic selling following

the suspension of trade on Monday, when shares plunged by 7% and

The falls in China, after the publication of weak manufacturing

Markets across Asia, Europe and the United States all suffered losses.

stockmarkets in the US closed down more than 1.5% on

Germany was worst hit, with its main exchange in Frankfurt

While in London, the FTSE 100 index of leading shares

After the markets closed in New York, our correspondent

These were not the kind of fireworks traders wanted to seek to bring in

2016. The market in the United States out of two a rocky start. The

Dow Jones was down 400 points, although it recovered slightly,

closing down 1.6%, more than 270 points lower. The worst start to the

year since 2008. Many stocks fell as a result of the sell-off from big

names like I was on and Facebook. -- was on. There was a potential

slowdown in China, which is worrying investors, as well as rising

geopolitical tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. This is life

traders talking about the word volatility, and all eyes now turn to

China to see what will happen next. So, let's take a look at how things

are shaping up at the moment. The Nikkei down slightly, so a

recovery from yesterday's 3% loss at close. The Hong Kong down half a

percent. The oil price edging higher today. Oil is very sensitive to what

is going on with regards to Saudi Arabia and Iran. That is on the

minds of investors. Safe havens like the yen in Japan becoming

attractive. I'm joined by Alicia Herrera Garcia,

chief economist at Asia Pacific Thank you for being on the

programme. Give us your reaction to yesterday's volatility and what is

going on. Yesterday was not the only time this happens in the last few

months. There was a large fall in August. We have seen quite a few

even smaller throughout the year, starting late June in 2015. This is

just one more, and it does reflect an economy that is going down. I

would not over estimate the overall outcome yesterday. It is more than

that. It boils down to Chinese operations being over leveraged, and

everybody tried to rush out of those. Many of those corporate 's,

their CEOs are big stakeholders of other corporations in China, said

they want to exit. Why haven't they done that before? Simply because it

was very hard to do so. We also note now there was a margin or window of

opportunity to exit, and they have used it up. What is happening in

this new government intervention popping up the market again, or

asking those corporations and CEOs to intervene to buy back stocks, it

is basically the government against all. The rest want to exit and they

are sometimes not allowed. Sometimes they find a way to do it, and that

is what they did yesterday, they exited. Obviously we are seeing the

impact of China trying to manage its own markets and various

interventions as you have mentioned and the effects of that. At the end

of the day, at some point, China must allow its market to operate

freely, surely? I don't think the Chinese government really believe

they have to let the markets operate. I think they actually are

increasing their intervention. We can look at the exchange rate, and

again, between Hong Kong this is widening. Domestic league and even

in Hong Kong, I don't think we are seeing any realisation that the

market should play a bigger role in China so far. -- domestically. That

is why we have these he cups and movement. To my mind, 2016 would be

more volatile because of the recent things are just mentioned, and

beware the exchange rate. That is where we may have the biggest

surprise. We have not much time left, I think you for your thoughts.

Good to get your perspective. -- thank you.

There's been a boom in the use of solar energy

in the United States, and nearly 5 million homes have

The city of Las Vegas has been one of the fastest-growing users

But a recent move to cut the payments solar homeowners get

Our technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones is in Las Vegas.

It is the global capital of excess, a city in a desert sucking up water

and energy like it is going out of fashion. But here is something

surprising about Las Vegas, it is also a pioneer in America's solar

energy boom. The solar powered City Hall is one example. The mentally

they is another. -- Mandalay Bay. The cost of panels and installation

have edged down the overall cost of power. It is no longer a big premium

to buy solar power in Nevada. Generous payments back into the grid

have made it attractive for thousands of households across the

city to have solar panels installed. All of this activity has suddenly

stopped. Such has been the boom in solar energy that around twice as

many people are now employed in the industry is working in coal mining

in the United States. But suddenly there is a backlash. A recent ruling

by the energy regulator that the economics of putting solar panels on

your roof now look questionable. Nirvana's monopoly energy company

added people with solar panels were effectively being subsidised by

their neighbours who do not have them. The regulator agreed. --

Nevada. We have one on this, that has gone solid just recently. This

man has followed the trend of his neighbours in a Las Vegas suburb and

gone soul at the wrong time. It has surprised us. -- seller. The panels

have only been on the roof less than a month and they have already yanked

the rug out from under us. That is what is happening as far as Las

Vegas is concerned. The annual technology show is happening there

as well. Now, as promised, you're

about to get a glimpse of the future - it certainly is a

remarkable innovation-in-progress. LG Display has been working on a

fully flexible screen for some time now, but it's at this year's CES

show that's under way in Las Vegas that the BBC has been given the

exclusive first hands-on access. This is from LG Display, the first

fully flexible LED screen. You can roll it, and the picture stays in

high-definition Advantest equality. The screen is 18 inches. It could be

85 inches soon. Rather than having a TV taking up space, when you have

watched TV, you can roll it up, put it in the cupboard, and never see it

again. The screen is a work in progress. You can only wallet in one

direction. If you are too rough, some of the individual axles die

easily. -- pixels. It means there are pieces missing from the picture.

Why would someone need a flexible screen like this? Today you are

watching an 18 inch prototype, but imagine you have a larger size,

larger than a 25 inch, and you can roll up your TV when you do not need

it -- 85. You can still look at your beautiful wallpapers. This is just a

concept at the moment. It is certainly an interesting side of

what may be the future of TV. There you have it, a TV you can roll

up. See you later.