:00:00. > :00:14.Now it's time for World Business Report.
:00:15. > :00:20.Can America's banking giants back their sky-high share prices
:00:21. > :00:28.Plus, scooter boys beware - why your takeaway food could soon be
:00:29. > :00:56.Lots going on. If you give me about eight minutes I will give you a
:00:57. > :01:01.snapshot of all the latest in the world of his ascent of money. --
:01:02. > :01:02.world of business. Also coming up, more surprises
:01:03. > :01:05.from President Trump as he eases We start on Wall Street,
:01:06. > :01:09.where it's a hugely important Now we know the share prices
:01:10. > :01:13.of banks have soared in the months following President Trump's
:01:14. > :01:15.election, led by America's biggest But in recent weeks doubts
:01:16. > :01:25.have been creeping in, Today we get first quarter results
:01:26. > :01:33.from the biggest US bank, JP Morgan Chase, and later
:01:34. > :01:43.from its rival Citigroup. They're the first of
:01:44. > :01:45.a barrage of reports Will they be good enough
:01:46. > :01:49.to justify the Trump rally, or confirm those fears that it's
:01:50. > :01:52.a bubble waiting to burst? President Trump has famously
:01:53. > :01:56.promised to throw out the mass of banking regulation brought
:01:57. > :01:59.in by the Obama administration after the financial crisis,
:02:00. > :02:01.the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. But he's been struggling to pass
:02:02. > :02:04.other legislation like healthcare reform, so this
:02:05. > :02:11.is all up in the air. Still, the banks have had a boost
:02:12. > :02:14.from rising US interest rates, which have now hit 1%
:02:15. > :02:17.and are expected to hit 3% This means more profits,
:02:18. > :02:21.because it helps their lending That's the difference
:02:22. > :02:31.between the interest rate they offer to savers and the rate
:02:32. > :02:41.they charge to borrowers. Here's the view of one top
:02:42. > :02:53.Wall Street watcher. What has happened since the
:02:54. > :02:57.presidential election in November is that the equity market has been
:02:58. > :03:00.strong but the banking sector has been particularly strong because the
:03:01. > :03:05.investors see the banks is benefiting specifically on some of
:03:06. > :03:10.the policies the new administration is talking about. We have not really
:03:11. > :03:13.seen any news about the tax cut proposals, the infrastructure
:03:14. > :03:16.spending, some of the other policies to boost the economy and boost
:03:17. > :03:21.lending, and therefore help ranks increased profits over the
:03:22. > :03:25.long-term. US banking results for the first quarter of 2017 will be
:03:26. > :03:29.deceptive. They will look very strong competitor first quarter of
:03:30. > :03:33.last year, but the first quarter of last year was very weak indeed. If
:03:34. > :03:36.we compare them with the first quarter of last year they will have
:03:37. > :03:39.made very little progress because we are not really seeing any of the
:03:40. > :03:43.economic and fits people were expecting from the incoming
:03:44. > :03:48.administration's policies. -- economic benefits. I do not expect a
:03:49. > :03:51.sell-off of banking stocks, it is a think the market is waiting for
:03:52. > :03:55.further news from the new administration in terms of exactly
:03:56. > :03:58.what they are going to do in terms of boosting the economy, cutting
:03:59. > :04:01.taxes and listening banking regulation. I think all those
:04:02. > :04:05.factors could be beneficial over the long-term, and I think those
:04:06. > :04:12.investors want to be able to take advantage of that.
:04:13. > :04:16.Well, let's stay with this story. One Wall St watches saying that he
:04:17. > :04:20.does not think there will be a retreat on the banks, but it is an
:04:21. > :04:23.expensive market at the moment, because the share prices are so
:04:24. > :04:28.high. Investors and everybody are respecting the banks to deliver.
:04:29. > :04:31.Will they? I think we will see good numbers, but it is not just about
:04:32. > :04:34.the numbers for the last three months. That is backward looking.
:04:35. > :04:39.What we are looking forward to is any legislative changes which will
:04:40. > :04:43.make banking less regulated and open the floodgates for profitability
:04:44. > :04:47.like the heyday of the 1980s. That is actually what is fuelling this
:04:48. > :04:54.stock market rise from the banks and the financial sector. That was one
:04:55. > :04:58.of President Trump's promises, the Dodd-Frank Act. What we have seen
:04:59. > :05:05.some of his other promises not go through, he has struggled. He may
:05:06. > :05:09.struggle with this. Even that Wall Street is watcher was seen to wait
:05:10. > :05:12.and see... No, it is a win-win for banks. If he gets the legislation
:05:13. > :05:16.through then markets move through the expectations. If he does not get
:05:17. > :05:20.it through because of the gridlock in Congress, because some
:05:21. > :05:23.Republicans, as they did with Obamacare, switch sides or do not
:05:24. > :05:27.push the legislation through, it doesn't matter. He will bribe
:05:28. > :05:33.congressmen, because that is what you do. So they will benefit not
:05:34. > :05:36.from deregulation but from increased governmental spending, which is what
:05:37. > :05:42.will happen. One way or another the banks are going to benefit. We are
:05:43. > :05:47.extremely bullish about US banks. In fact, more bullish than on the
:05:48. > :05:51.broader US economy, because we think what will happen is that he will
:05:52. > :05:55.just end up taking the easy way out, which is spending more money. OK, so
:05:56. > :05:58.you think these high prices are justified? We think they will be
:05:59. > :06:00.even higher by the end of the year. Well, there you go committee heard
:06:01. > :06:01.it. Let's stay in the US,
:06:02. > :06:04.where President Trump has said his administration will not
:06:05. > :06:06.label China a currency manipulator, despite his campaign
:06:07. > :06:08.promise to do so. He told the Wall Street Journal
:06:09. > :06:12.the dollar was "getting too strong" but that was partly his
:06:13. > :06:15.fault because people had The comments to the Wall Street
:06:16. > :06:20.Journal come after his meeting China has been accused
:06:21. > :06:25.of suppressing the yuan to make its exports more
:06:26. > :06:27.competitive with US goods. Before the US election,
:06:28. > :06:29.Mr Trump likened this Sharanjit Leyl has been
:06:30. > :06:53.following this for us in Singapore. Again, and other incredible story.
:06:54. > :07:00.Higher US dollar week as he is so good, hey? Yeah, but you know what?
:07:01. > :07:04.Those comments pretty much had the desired effect, because as soon as
:07:05. > :07:08.he said he didn't want a strong US dollar and didn't like a strong US
:07:09. > :07:12.dollar, the US dollar tumbled. So now we are seeing the yen and others
:07:13. > :07:15.in Asia finding strength, and as a result the markets are falling
:07:16. > :07:19.because nobody else likes their currency being too strong either. So
:07:20. > :07:24.the Japanese are selling off all those export-oriented stocks. But,
:07:25. > :07:28.yes, as you say, he went on to state in that interview that's a thing of
:07:29. > :07:31.the label currency manipulator on China would hurt talks with Beijing
:07:32. > :07:36.on dealing with North Korean threats. We knew that China had
:07:37. > :07:41.suppressed the currency, the yuan, for years, to make its exports more
:07:42. > :07:45.competitive with US goods. But Mr Trump said this was like reaping the
:07:46. > :07:49.United States. He had promised to label China currency manipulator on
:07:50. > :07:52.his first day in office, but in that interview he admitted that China had
:07:53. > :07:56.not been currency manipulators for some time. They have actually been
:07:57. > :08:00.trying to prevent further weakening. All of this, as we know, has not
:08:01. > :08:05.helped the reality of the trade relationship between the United
:08:06. > :08:09.States and China, with data out a few hours ago showing that the trade
:08:10. > :08:13.surplus China has with the US has risen yet again. It rose in March to
:08:14. > :08:18.over $17 billion. That is a big rise from February's $10 billion or so.
:08:19. > :08:22.President Trump has focused on that in particular, that large trade
:08:23. > :08:27.surplus that China has with the US. It was about $350 billion last year,
:08:28. > :08:32.and he has been pressing Chinese President Xi Jinping to help reduce
:08:33. > :08:39.the gap. Do you ever ordered delivery? Takeout food, I should
:08:40. > :08:43.say? Yes, sometimes. Delivered to you by a man or a woman on a
:08:44. > :08:49.scooter, right? Something like that? That's right. Watch this next story.
:08:50. > :08:50.Are you happy to have your food delivered by a robot?
:08:51. > :08:52.That's the question being asked of take-out food customers
:08:53. > :08:58.of technology that could mean the end of the road for scooter
:08:59. > :09:35.We think the best approach for this kind of system is one where there is
:09:36. > :09:39.constant human oversight of the robots. The architecture we have
:09:40. > :09:42.chosen is one where a person is capable of controlling one or two
:09:43. > :09:45.robots, and overtime we would build in more and more autonomous
:09:46. > :09:49.operation so there is one person then controlling five and then and
:09:50. > :09:54.so on. It is effectively multiplying the ability of a given person to do
:09:55. > :10:39.more work over the set of robots they are overseeing.
:10:40. > :10:45.That's the future. I'll be back later to look at the newspapers from
:10:46. > :10:49.around the world.