Street, pretty lackluster. The bond market is where the action is. Us the flattening of the yield curve taking place. There is almost this final push for this to happen. Yield on to an tenure treasuries just 50. 6 basis points, closing to this decade low which is reached on december 6. A small part of this really coming from markets shifting to a new benchmark, one of the biggest single session shifts. The final flattening push, it appears to be Money Managers that essentially want windowdressing to tighten up their portfolios before the year finishes. That is the bond market. A look at what is going on with the start of the trading day at singapore, taipei, and kuala lumpur. Its get a look at what is going on and how things are shaping up. Lets kickoff with the open in besti with clocking the they in two weeks, continuing the advance. The years games have not been able to claim the 11,000 mark given some investor caution around iphone sales. We see stocks under pressure, and in kuala lumpur, we see a flat open. Its get a quick check of the assets in focus. Rebounding just a touch after the decline. The recent drop has wrought about yearend flows and exacerbated the flattening of the yield curve. Bitcoin has gyrations. They continue after losing that level overnight. Slipping. D, we see it oil is still set for a fourth monthly gain. With the treasury moving to japanese stocks fluctuating as they are slipping in tokyo and Energy Shares are also under pressure in japan as well as in south korea but the cost be is being kept afloat by i. T. And health care stocks. And the korean won also gaining ground along with most other regional currencies barring the same dollar. Take a look at equity movers in focus because we have health gains. Ocks helping jumping on expectations for a deal according to management. As stock has risen as much 17 to a june 2016 high. Rising to an october 2012 high after announcing an Investment Plan to produce home. The worst performer. This week, it did announced plans to extend to 2020. Lets have a look at what is going on in terms of first word news and find out in sydney where paul allen is. Chinas most powerful figures meet in the new year to discuss the First Amendment to the constitution since 2004. They offered no details on changes but said the decision was made at a Bureau Meeting on wednesday. The constitution was first adopted in 1982 and has been revised four times since the communist Party Central committee will review any amendments later in january. The worlds most valuable spirits maker has a bullish year. Said to raise the price of liquor, the first hike in five years. They want to grow revenue by at least 10 in 2018. They expect total profit for the current year to have risen by almost 60 . Bitcoin slipped below 15,000 after the biggest rally in two weeks into the route wiped away more than 9,000. Futures on the exchange slipped more than 3 and volatility as to the debate about how to value the digital coin which surged this year. To likes continue grifter cryptocurrencies, but seen as a safer alternative. Investment returns in china, the value added takes effect on january 1 and is part of a broader outcome of how Companies Pay taxes in the worlds secondbiggest economy. Hedge funds are already under officials britney. Rival products such as mutual funds are partly exempt from the new charge. To take charge of a 1. 3 billion due to the Corporate Tax change in the united states. Lowering the rate from dirty 5 to 21 will benefit companies and requires them to recalculate. Bank of america will take a 3 billion charge while Credit Suisse is expecting a 2. 3 allion hit which will remain Third Straight annual loss. A global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2700 and analysts in more than 120 countries. Im paul allen. This is bloomberg. Rishaad the japan korea economy, we joined from tokyo. Tell us about this and how do these numbers set up . The narrative is still in place. The Global Economy continues to fuel growth. It is the second highest on the year. And that is double digits for most of the year. , and globaltoday demand continues to fuel production in japan. As well as Capital Investments. The trend is still intact. Its been a running theme this year helped on by the yen and where it is. Thate face of it, it sees seems that these november figures dip into that narrative. That is true. We are continuing to see Strong Demand globally. That is fueling into Capital Investment here. It fuelt quite seen higher wages that are needed to really pick up spending and fuel inflation. Side ofar, the exports the equation is certainly doing the job. Rishaad coming something here henry, we have had corporate scandals. On closer inspection, do these numbers have any impact on Industrial Production, at least . The impact of the corporate scandals has been negligible. Like we see a new scandal corrupt every week or two. That is tarnishing the reputations of the companies involved. That in theeeing real economy at. It is mostly a reputational blow. Henry, thank you very much indeed. East springs Market Strategy for 2018 with asian equity portfolio. Tokyo,in us again from you see it continuing into the new year. This is bloomberg. Rishaad a quick check of the latest business flash headlines. Dealn closing longterm with asset manager tcw taking almost half of the stake owned by the carlyle group. For 490 of the firm million reducing carlyles holding to 31 of the deal. Carlylesmore than initial investment in 2013. Managers go to 44 . The volvo car owner is to become the largest shareholder in a volvo trucks. Activist investment, it is said to be worth 3. 9 billion. For the first time, they moved into the heavy truck and bus market. 1mdb pay the sovereign wealth fund, the remainder of arbitration said ahead of a yearend deadline. With 603 million installment training. Andup by the Prime Minister at the center of multiple investigations. Alleged corruption and money laundering. Lets have a look at emergingmarket currencies extending gains against the dollar. Lets get the latest on this emerging markets editor and are james joins us. Andrew james joins us. The Foreign Exchange market taking it. It gave the currency of boost. A pretty strong finish to the year. Gain this on an 11 year. Rishaad is it more of a dollar more than anything else . Sure. It throughout the year has been mainly down to just the massive big flows seen into emergingmarket stocks and bonds. It has been a function of strong growth in the developing and emerging economies. The South African rand surging. Taking over as leader of the anc. Coming more about the south korean won. Perhaps, surprisingly, it has been the best emergingmarket currency in asia this year. Surprisingly, of course, the Nuclear Brinkmanship between the u. S. And north korea. The wan is the most liquid currency in asia and it has benefited from the big inflows, particularly in to the bond market. We also have the south Korean Central Bank becoming the first Asian Central bank to hike Interest Rates this year. It has helped the juan. In growth number in south korea. Thats a lot for that. Just through the emergingmarket affects and looking at the south korean won. Looking atorean won price. Asiapacific markets hunting and on a new record. Investments, the equity portfolio specialist. The north korean won price. I dont keep track of north korean won. [laughter] rishaad the tell me about it. From a currency standpoint, its hard to detect because we were in 2017 and kind of where we were a year ago, everybody thought the theme would be anywhere between seven. 2 to 7. 5. It was a most a given that the handle would be a seven in front of it. And that is her a hard to predict. The markets did get right is at asian currencies, the u. S. Dollar, we didnt see a lot of strength coming from there. The fed did not raise Interest Rates quicker than anticipated. I think thats the one thing the markets got right. What will be the trade for 2018 . It could be up in the air. The focus on fundamentals more than valuations. And he gets into investment strategy. Have aelieve japan does lot of merit still. When you look at overall Balance Sheet that continues to strengthen, a lot of the toxic very different assets. They are incorporating a lot of that. Extent, you have to remember the u. S. Dollar trade has gone a little bit differently. The correlation is very high. A think its only the last few months. One of those things where if the breakdown continues further, it will be very beneficial to corporate japan. And a very strong story. 25 of japanese trade is with the u. S. Thought in the 15 range. A lot less dependent on the u. S. Trade. Investors should focus on that. Thought in the 15 range. Focus on japanese banks, doing very well despite the fact that Interest Rates are still very low. Rishaad and you get use on the yield curve. A theyre going overseas and focusing on southeast asia. And now closed almost half of the Interest Rate books, they are coming from lending overseas. A lot of these banks are focusing the attention on that. Look at the software side, and the hardware side. There is attractiveness and some value there as well. Rishaad we saw on tuesday some sprigs of green shoots of inflation. Stronger than anticipated retail sales. A positive picture for the quarter as a whole. How do you interpret that . Does this mean 2018 might be the year that the boj take the economy back on track . It will be difficult. San, theyink kuroda song are emphasizing wage growth. This. 5 in wage growth, you need to see a bit more. Days this weeke as well, you see Consumer Confidence coming back and more people coming out and spending. Come back a bit and at the same time, you need a bit more of that. Moreill need to see a bit positive quarters coming from japan in order to maybe see a bit more actions from the boj. Rishaad stick around from east springs investments and enjoy more details. Interactive television function, go to tv. If you are a bloomberg user, you can dive into the securities function. Look at the conversation and have that message. More than once during the programming. This is for bloomberg subscribers only. Have a look at it. Tv. Rishaad coming to an end and getting the price of what the session is looking like. Technology has been one of the key drivers of what been going on the hang seng market. 34 so seen a gain of far this year. It could, perhaps, be something to watch out for in 2018. Likely that the tech may be a victim of caution. Investments, the asia equity portfolio specialist. Huge driver here. That surely cant be repeated. You can never say never. At 2017, half of the gains really comes from software. Is a quarter of all the gains during the market cap. These companies have done very well in 2017. They have continued to keep driving further. Potentially on a shortterm we suspect investors should focus on some of the unloved factors. That is really overlooked this year. In china,e sectors banks had really been overlooked. Just on the face of it, you look at the hang seng. A screaming value. You have the need and you start thinking that those stocks, do they come back . You have this move. It will that will that be the theme in 2018 . Is not a strong as we have seen in 2017, but you do still get fairly good market performances in 2018 and it has to come from some of these dollar stocks. Seal you see oil hovering back and it could be a benefit in terms of Earnings Growth. Utilities have not done very well this year, with them being the hang seng index. And at the same time, Telecoms Operators have not been well. And potentially, some of the mobile operators could potentially make. So there can be some of these coming back for some of the sectors. When we are going to a cyclical are of recovery, banks driving the cyclical recovery. Thereen you look at 2017, are i. T. Stocks driving that recovery. You do continue to see the recovery and he see the banks do well. Rishaad should. Will be the top markets looking into the year . I will that be the case. 2018 is looking to be a very solid year for china as well as india. Indias side, we talk about valuations. It we look at Earnings Growth. India is turning things around. Expecting seeing anywhere from 17 to 18 Earnings Growth for Corporate India in 2018. And in chinas case, valuations are still quite attractive. And evaluations are quite high but Earnings Growth when you look at Chinese Companies is roughly 15 . Ocus on asia in particular it does look like a very attractive country as well. Who are you looking at . We do tend to sort of want to avoid some of those countries and these markets have done well over the last few years. Rishaad he is in asia portfolio specialist. At the other side of it, the next question about bitcoin. Cryptocurrencyhe , stunning december and the. Hanghai market open that is coming up after the break. After the break. Is this a phone . Or a little internet machine . It makes you wonder shouldnt we get our phones and internet from the same company . Thats why Xfinity Mobile comes with your internet. You get up to 5 lines of talk and text at no extra cost. So all you pay for is data. See how much you can save. Choose by the gig or unlimited. Xfinity mobile. A new kind of network designed to save you money. Call, visit, or go to xfinitymobile. Com. P. M. In hong kong, 8 29 p. M. On the eastern seaboard of the united dates. Especially with record highs, it is a muted session. Little effectively volume and perhaps trading some volatility. Half a percentage point from the record of the asiapacific index. Looking at strongerthanexpected data out of japan, retail sales and Industrial Production beating economist estimates. Curveattening bond yield which is the top stories as well. A bit later on today. The open is practically upon us. The market is up. Lets see what the open is looking like. We have some pressure coming through from chinese stocks, the shanghai composite fighting for a second session. We see a mixed picture from the , sliding and smallcap about. 2 . See the hang seng coming from a fourth day as the gauges resuming gains this thursday. Maker ck on liquor this after the company says it expects annual profit to double this year as compared to 2016. Raising prices for the signature drink for the first time in five years. It will boost revenue by 10 in 2018. A quick check on the copper producers. Ground next year. The copper is writing that wave higher. Take a look at the breakdown. We do have Consumer Discretionary stocks. Recovering from yesterdays optical as well. Also on the up here, keep an eye returns,tax investment taking effect on january 1. That is expected to deal a blow to the companys Hedge Fund Industry which is already under heavy regulatory scrutiny. Barring Consumer Staples in hong kong. To go quick look at chinese carmakers. On the rise, expected to become a top shareholder. Energyetting up a new venture with one of its units, shares jumping. The stock outperforms at Credit Suisse and we also are on the rise. Ms. The china is extending tax breaks to 2020. In afterue to jump storing as much as 50 on wednesday. It means onion, and resuming trade. The company says the former ceo is seeking to wind up a controlling shareholder. It does appear the mood on main street in the u. S. Is a little less cherry. Consumer confidence fell from a 17 year high as people became less upbeat about jobs in the economy. New yorkbased Confidence Index fell to a threemonth low of 122. 1. Even so, most people remain optimistic. A share of Respondents Expecting comes to rise and climbed the highest since march. It has said to increase borrowing to shore up spending as income declines. The finance Ministry Says it slows andllection plans to offset the 7. 8 billion borrowing by curbing treasury bills. The worst rout since records began. U. S. Demand for jews has been falling for years and given the investor harvest, interest is shrinking as fewer people want to use futures to hedge. Prices have slumped about 17 this month alone and 60 day volatility is at its lowest in three years. The richest people on earth became a little better off in 2017. The stock markets setting new records to help the worlds wealthiest and in and stretch really and dollars this year, more than four times again in 2016. Added more than 34 billion to his fortune, knocking bill gates off the top of the list of the worlds richest. He held the number one spot since may of 2013. Than 2700 more journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. Im paul allen. This is bloomberg. Rishaad in china, the value taking effect. The worlds secondbiggest economy. Manager it affect asset looking at this earlier . It is awfully complicated and did opaque. We have spoken to some tax experts on this. And also spoken to the hedge fund manager. Grips. Getting to it may have exemptions. Everyone is still assessing exactly what it means. A lot of fuzziness in the rules out there. It is hard to notice where things are at. What has been the response from the Hedge Fund Community . Tohe was telling them how split the extra cost. Speculating that china has thousands of hedge funds. A securities are you later came out with pretty Strong Language