:00:00. > :00:19.Defying the sceptics - the Euro surges as Dutch voters
:00:20. > :00:25.But France could prove a bigger test.
:00:26. > :00:33.Could the American gas guzzler make a comeback?
:00:34. > :00:35.President Trump say he'll review Obama's rules on car fuel
:00:36. > :00:58.Hello and welcome. Also in the programme, the Fed raises rates and
:00:59. > :01:00.China follows suit. No action in Japan however. We will some that up
:01:01. > :01:01.in a moment. We start with the elections
:01:02. > :01:04.in the Netherlands - where as you have been hearing,
:01:05. > :01:06.Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his Liberal Party
:01:07. > :01:09.are on course for victory. He's seen off a challenge
:01:10. > :01:12.from the far-right Freedom Party of Geert Wilders -
:01:13. > :01:14.who had pledged to take the Netherlands out
:01:15. > :01:16.of the European Union it jumped as much as 1.3%
:01:17. > :01:25.the biggest rise since last summer. It's been having a tough time
:01:26. > :01:29.of course since the UK's But this is the reaction immediately
:01:30. > :01:40.after the polls began to emerge. The Netherlands is not
:01:41. > :01:58.a huge economy in itself - A huge relief that the threat has
:01:59. > :02:04.dissipated a little. France holding presidential elections next month
:02:05. > :02:08.and Germany has parliamentary elections in September. Both are
:02:09. > :02:12.expected to see strong challenges by anti-EU parties. But the Foreign
:02:13. > :02:16.Minister of Germany says that the Dutch election is a good sign.
:02:17. > :02:21.If the results are confirmed that the right-wing populist -
:02:22. > :02:24.actually, you have to say right-wing radical, Wilders has suffered a big
:02:25. > :02:30.It shows that a country like the Netherlands is one
:02:31. > :02:33.of the core European countries and doesn't let itself get incited
:02:34. > :02:36.and it makes me very happy for democracy
:02:37. > :02:40.I am certain that also in France, the democrats and the people
:02:41. > :02:45.After all, Europe is a big achievement of the French,
:02:46. > :02:56.It is a good sign for the evolution of democracy on our continent.
:02:57. > :03:07.I am joined by Vincent. Clearly hearing from the German Foreign
:03:08. > :03:10.Minister and they are relieved I would imagine that everyone in
:03:11. > :03:19.Brussels is breathing a sigh of relief this morning. Can we have
:03:20. > :03:23.your take on what happened? We see it in the evolution of the euro
:03:24. > :03:28.yesterday that there is relief in the market. At the same time this
:03:29. > :03:37.outcome was widely expected stop that would also give Sumer is hence
:03:38. > :03:49.that the party of Geert Wilders was losing steam. But we see that the
:03:50. > :03:53.current Prime Minister is high in the polls. He has the capacity to
:03:54. > :03:59.form a sort of centre-right government that may take weeks or if
:04:00. > :04:05.not months to form. It is this seems manageable to us. Today, at least
:04:06. > :04:09.we're not talking about a surprise result which many thought may happen
:04:10. > :04:13.given the fact that we have had that with the UK referendum and the
:04:14. > :04:19.outcome of the US election. How about France now? What is the
:04:20. > :04:27.feeling in France? Does it have any impact at all on what is going on
:04:28. > :04:34.there? Well, a victory for Geert Wilders would have strengthened the
:04:35. > :04:39.far right in France. Both parties in France, the French far right and the
:04:40. > :04:43.Dutch far right are different, they are positioned differently with
:04:44. > :04:49.different scope, especially in regards to the economy. I would not
:04:50. > :04:54.say that the fact that they lost all they did not manage to get the first
:04:55. > :05:00.party yesterday in the Netherlands makes a victory for Marine Le Pen
:05:01. > :05:06.impossible. It is not a done deal yet. We have seen over the past few
:05:07. > :05:10.weeks that everything has changed. The most likely to win candidate is
:05:11. > :05:24.now embroiled in a financial scandal. So there is still
:05:25. > :05:33.uncertainty and we still must remain vigilant as investors to political
:05:34. > :05:36.risk in France. We will keep an eye on further reaction as the day
:05:37. > :05:37.progresses. Let's move on now to another story.
:05:38. > :05:40.We are also asking - could the American gas guzzler be
:05:41. > :05:44.US carmakers were forced by the Obama administration
:05:45. > :05:47.to improve the fuel economy of their vehicles.
:05:48. > :05:50.They are supposed to average 36 miles per gallon by 2025 -
:05:51. > :05:53.about ten miles per gallon higher than they do now.
:05:54. > :05:56.But President Trump has ordered a review of those standards.
:05:57. > :05:58.The man he appointed chief of the Environmental Protection Agency,
:05:59. > :06:01.Scott Pruitt, has famously said C02 is not the main cause
:06:02. > :06:05.Samira Hussain has more from New York
:06:06. > :06:11.Another campaign style event for a president who has been in office
:06:12. > :06:15.almost two months. This is the first time that Mr Trump has come to
:06:16. > :06:19.Detroit since his election win. Now he is back to deliver on some of his
:06:20. > :06:25.campaign promises. My administration will work tirelessly to eliminate
:06:26. > :06:31.the industry killing regulations, to lower the job crushing taxes and to
:06:32. > :06:37.ensure a level playing field for all American companies and workers. For
:06:38. > :06:42.motor city, that means addressing fuel efficiency standards.
:06:43. > :06:45.Originally put in place by the Obama administration, American car
:06:46. > :06:48.manufacturers were being forced to make an entire fleet of cars that
:06:49. > :06:54.met these lower emission requirements. President Trump has
:06:55. > :06:57.now promised to review these rules. We are going to ensure that any
:06:58. > :07:05.regulations we have protect and defend your jobs, your factories. We
:07:06. > :07:09.will be fair. But it is difficult to see how these particular regulations
:07:10. > :07:14.have hurt America's auto industry which has been revving in high gear
:07:15. > :07:18.with record sales for the last two yous. When you look at the sales on
:07:19. > :07:22.the record profits that they have had, the fact that you already have
:07:23. > :07:29.cars on the road now that meet these 2025 standards, I think the industry
:07:30. > :07:33.has shown it can meet and improve the standards. I think the industry
:07:34. > :07:37.has shown it can innovate and make the kind of targets that are laid
:07:38. > :07:41.out in the current rules. President Trump is trying to show that he can
:07:42. > :07:47.bring jobs back to America. By cutting some of the cost of doing
:07:48. > :07:50.business. But on Wednesday he was short on specifics, saying only that
:07:51. > :07:58.those regulations were up for review. Our team braving the winter
:07:59. > :07:59.storms there. As we were previewing
:08:00. > :08:01.this time yesterday - and as was widely expected -
:08:02. > :08:04.the US central bank- the Federal Reserve -
:08:05. > :08:09.has raised the cost of borrowing. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen
:08:10. > :08:13.said the US economy was making 'solid progress' -
:08:14. > :08:15.with a strengthening job market The Fed has raised
:08:16. > :08:26.its main interest rate The Fed is forecasting two
:08:27. > :08:45.more rises this year. Many on Wall Street think the next
:08:46. > :08:48.won't be before June - as the Fed will want to see how well
:08:49. > :08:52.the Trump administration does with its plans to
:08:53. > :08:54.boost the US economy. Let's go to Asia now where China's
:08:55. > :08:57.central bank has reacted with its own move -
:08:58. > :09:07.but Japan's hasn't. Hello, Sally. Can you talk us
:09:08. > :09:12.through China and Japan? It was a busy day for Asian central banks.
:09:13. > :09:15.You had China, Hong Kong and Japan. Starting off with China the central
:09:16. > :09:21.bank there raising short-term interest rates to banks but left its
:09:22. > :09:31.benchmark rate unchanged. The People's Bank of China citing the US
:09:32. > :09:36.Fed rate hike overnight and improved Chinese conditions. Some analysts
:09:37. > :09:42.expected this move, however. Is the rapid buildup in debt. Supported by
:09:43. > :09:48.this move. The Chinese currency firmed against the US dollar. As for
:09:49. > :09:55.the Hong Kong monetary authority, the de facto central bank, they
:09:56. > :09:59.raised their base rate by one quarter of a%. As far as the
:10:00. > :10:05.Japanese central bank, it Policies DDB gave an upbeat assessment of the
:10:06. > :10:12.overall economy. Thank you for that. Let's look at market shares now.
:10:13. > :10:17.Shares in Hong Kong were trimmed by that news of the interest rate hike
:10:18. > :10:20.in China but as you can see, on the whole, or good they are merging in
:10:21. > :10:28.Asia following strong gains overnight on Wall Street and the
:10:29. > :10:30.Dow. Over 0.5%. The broader market, almost 1% after the press conference
:10:31. > :10:35.from the Federal Reserve.