We are watching the hang seng index. Australias market is only higher by 0. 3 . But we had this news that china will allow australias cargo to come ashore. Lets have a look at stocks. Clearing exchanges in focus. The u. S. Approved legislation that could lead to chinese firms getting kicked off american exchanges. Also getting a call from sidney. Tak is down 1. 4 . ,his big surging iron or holding at a record. In recent weeks, weve seen pickup of state owned enterprise default in china that have jolted the credit markets and rattled investors. One company in the spotlight is ever grand, which has accumulated the biggest debt in global real estate. We are joined by Stephen Engle in hong kong. In ournt to bring distinguished guest, the ceo and cofounder of sc lowy in hong kong. A bank and manager that specializes in distressed and highyield debt. Good to see you. You spoke to bloomberg about a month ago and you did talk about ever grand. We know that they have taken steps to increase or improve their liquidity. Tradere been an active in dollar notes. Do you see more volatility for this . Have they shored things up enough . How do you play it . Good morning. We heard [indiscernible] short term, theyve dealt with some of the pressure. [indiscernible] what we are also seeing, kind of signs that the Chinese Government is not going to step in, in places where they have in the past. We know about the ratings agencies in china. They do not necessarily price the risk adequately. Are you seeing that trend as well, that the government is not going to bail out the state owned enterprise space . Vigorously we are seeing that trend. This is nothing new. , wevego back 20 years seen that before. At some point, the Central Government tells the holders that there is a significant difference. That is what we are discovering again and we are going to see more and more of that in the next few months. Seehat opportunities do you in the space . The difficulty as an investor is to always be very binary. Making a call on whether the company is going to be supported or bailed out is very difficult. From very different what we can pursue in other markets. Expecte do you delinquencies to continue to rise in china . Can you pinpoint it . Not really. Besides real estate you cant really pinpoint one industry in particular. [inaudible] looking more widely at asia, in terms of india, that to a certain extent lends itself scales andraditional valuation. I wanted to talk to you about india. I believe it is one of your biggest targets for investment in asia. See. Re looking at dhs slew ofheres been a new regulations. Theres a slew of bad debt as well. Onres also a moratorium bankruptcies and insolvencies because of the pandemic and the lockdown and the bad debt and the inefficient banking system. What are your targets in india right now . As i told you before, india is a very important market for us. The size of the market is extremely attractive. We believe that with the right set up, the right presence, some of those barriers can be overcome as long as you are very conservative with your assumptions. We remain committed to india. Seehink we will continue to a very healthy pipeline of deals coming out of india. We certainly plan to expand aggressively our footprint in india, whether it is growing via acquisitions. Of a nonbank household lender. We are understanding through local media that theres been some threats that perhaps you could walk away. Some of the financial creditors of this company have extended the bidding process or added a fourth round of bidding. Where do you stand on that . Are you preparing to walk away if this keeps getting dragged out . We are very keen to be timessful, but at the same , if we come to the conclusion that we have no chance to win because the rules of the game are rigged against you, then we will choose not to waste our time and energy and focus on other transactions. Is the system rigged against you . Big entity. Gainst a is there favoritism going on here . Also, theres inklings from the that they are treating hong kong investors the same as china, and maybe some of these transactions from hong kong are getting held up with extra scrutiny. Answer on know the whether we have a true chance to buy for a fair price. But what weve witnessed is rules that have been changed on and no outcome besides giving bidders another chance to participate. It is a very frustrating process. You have other targets in india, or has this situation made you take a pause . We are in it to win it. We are not taking a pause in , but we saw other large opportunities. There are platforms that are available in india that we are confident we will complete. All right. Next time we have you on, we will talk about europe. Lots of interesting things going on there. Theres also some insolvency going on in the banking space. Lets get you back on as soon as possible. Thanks for joining us on bloomberg television. We will send it back over to you. Juliette coming up, two of Southeast Asia has biggest tech firms could be set to put aside their rivalry and join forces. We will have all the details of the potential merger, next. This is bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Markets. Qantas plans to buy the majority its predomestic schedule the airline is expecting capacity to reach more than two thirds of normal levels in december, increasing to 80 next year. There will be no International Flights until at least july. Officials are settling a longrunning dispute over aircraft subsidies before President Trump leaves the white house. [inaudible] officials remain cautious about any imminent breakthrough. 10 surged by as much as despite lowering its growth outlook. Demand for rides plunging 50 in november. They are saying now that they are expecting growth at the lowend of its forecast from last month. At the same time, saying that its adjusted loss will be 185 million. Two of Southeast Asias most valuable startups are said to be making progress towards a merger, putting an end to what has been intense rivalry. Sources say the two have narrowed their differences and the fine details are being discussed. Our tech reporter has the story for us. What do we know so far . Makingnow that they are substantial progress on working out a deal. Merger inhe biggest Southeast Asia. What is being discussed would have the cofounder become the. Hief executive so the two Brands Strategy is being considered. They might run separately for a period of time. This is ultimately aimed at becoming a public listed company. The final details are still being worked out. Things are still up in the air. Serves, is it involved in negotiations . What would a merger mean . What would the implications be for softbank . Son is the worlds biggest investor in ridehailing. He has large stakes in you china, as well as operations in brazil. He has used his position so far to negotiate a number of ceasefire agreements. Uber worked out their differences in china. And grab have come to an agreement in Southeast Asia. This would probably be the last big rivalry that would be coming to an end. We know hes been personally involved in the negotiations since at least january this year. Getting frustrated by the animosity between the two companies, but it seems like they have made progress and are close to clearing a major hurdle. [inaudible] up next, tie protesters target the royal family and property investments. This is bloomberg. President elect joe biden his Economic Team together. Competence. Have respectable people to beat is not worried about. That is very much reflected in the Biden Economic team. I discovered that one plural for dubs is a bevy. Weve got a bunch of people who are pretty much on the same page. They are reflecting a lot of mainstream economic thinking. Credibility they dont have any credibility now. Interesting. It is also a bevy of people finally looking slightly different than the usual economist. Theres women, people of color. What are you thinking about the diversity at the table . Is there enough new thinking . Amazinglythis is an Competent Group of people. It is like night and day. I was going to Say Something i shouldnt, but compared to the trump team, this is a different universe of people. I almost feel like a lot of them are overqualified. Group thaty are a has very strong progressive conventionals credentials. Think about obama. Janet yellen. You are seeing a really significant shift towards a much more progressive, centerleft orientation. The orientation is certainly very different. Challenging to get anything through congress. It seems like there were some pretty serious lessons that we could have learned from the pandemic and from how we initially responded. Not only in the u. S. , but in other countries as well. Im curious as to whether that sort of validates or vindicates the general idea that government involvement in the market is necessary if we are going to have a functioning economy even when times are good. I would like to hope so. ,he thing to say is also about the biden team [inaudible] we are still in an economy which will be able to achieve full employment at very low Interest Rates and a substantial deficit. Some kind of continuing fiscal stimulus over the medium term and the need for a lot of public investment, infrastructure, climate change, education, all those things will remain. So the case for a much more activist, promarket, but also pro attitude on the part of government i would like to think it was vindicated by events over the past few years including the pandemic. Juliette that was paul krugman. A thai court has rejected a petition seeking to disqualify the Prime Minister for allegedly breaking ethics rules. Powerared him to stay in even as protesters continue to campaign for his resignation. The demonstrators are also targeting the royal family and its property investments. Daniel joins us now for more. Why do the protesters want changes to the Current System . Protests have all been about kind of asking to make the monarchy in thailand more transparent and more accountable. Is the part of that finances of the monarchy. These feature prominently in the demands first issued in august. We saw discussions during the approval for the budget a few months back. Opposition politicians were questioning the taxpayer money going to the royal family. That, theres also this investment portfolio that includes some of the best real estate in bangkok. Right now it is not clear where that money goes. Ultimately, the protesters are seeking more accountability, more transparency, kind of like a system closer to what they have in the u. K. Specifically what changes are they pushing for . What is the likelihood of success . A few years back, the military signed off on the first legal changes regarding the Property Bureau which manages the assets. They effectively allowed the king to put his name on the assets. Indid that with his stakes the two main listed companies in his portfolio. The changes also eliminated the finance ministers role as chairman. Which has given some appearance of government oversight. The protesters are looking to rollback those changes. They want a Clear Division between the kings personal assets and those under control of the finance ministry. How likely is it they would succeed . Not very likely in the short term. Changess considering have already said they are not going to touch decisions related to the monarchy. What they have done is, they have increased public consciousness about this issue. Thanks. Lots more to come. Also taking a look at what is going on in hong kong. Stocks are moving to the upside. Stocks on the hang seng on the up. 25 on the way down. Are you frustrated with your weight and health . Its time for aerotrainer, a more effective total body fitness solution. announcer aerotrainers ergodynamic design and four patented air chambers create maximum muscle activation for better results in less time, all while maintaining safe, correct form and allows for over 20 exercises. Do the aerotrainer super crunch. The prestretch works your abs even harder, engaging the entire core. Then its the back extension, super rock, and lower back traction stretch to take the pressure off your spine and stretch muscles. Planks are the ultimate total body exercise. Build your upper body with pushups. Work your lower body with the aerosquat. The aerotrainer is tested to support over 500 pounds. It inflates and deflates in less than 30 seconds using the electric pump. Head to aerotrainer. Com now. Now its your turn to lose weight, look great, and be healthy. Get off the floor and get on the aerotrainer. Go to aerotrainer. Com, thats aerotrainer. Com. It is almost 11 00 a. M. In shanghai and singapore. Welcome to Bloomberg Markets asia. Im juliette saly. Rishaad and im rishaad salamat. Asian markets extending highs. Stimulus talk in washington. Treasury yields slip. The dollar touching a twoyear low. Juliette opec and its allies meet later amid signs they are making progress on the supplies strategy. We are told leading producers are discussing a gradual tapering of output restrictions. Rises onpressure Chinese Companies listed in new york. Forhouse approves a bill tighter restrictions that could see some big names forced out of wall street. Juliette global stocks taking a little bit of a pause from the record rally but here in asia we are seeing slight gains lifting the msci asia index. Trying to get back to those levels we had seen. The index up 0. 3 . Watching the dollar index, the dollar continuing to slip. Also watching treasury yields edging down after topping 96 basis points. Weve been asking our guests what that means for risk assets. As we mentioned, watching the crude market. Just a little lower there. Over in bangkok, thai stocks trading just getting underway there. Regional indices up 0. 5 . Focusre also very much in with these protests targeting the Kings Property investments and the thai Prime Minister acquitted of an ethics breach, which means he doesnt have to resign now. The thai baht study. A slight indicating gain at the start of the Indian Trading day. Indiambers coming out of this afternoon. That is ahead of an Interest Rate decision by the reserve bank. Lets move from markets to the first word news as we go to new york for karina mitchell. The latest coronavirus reports say u. S. Daily fatalities have hit a record 2638. Hospitalization numbers rose by more than 1000 a day last month. The u. K. Is the First Western nation to approve a vaccine. Reported fatalities in germany are at their highest since april. Berlin is extending its partial nationwide locked into january. France is warning that it will veto any potential brexit deal if it gives too much to the u. K. Barniergotiator michel said it would look bad if the deal was rejected by national leaders. Any agreement must win the approval of all e. U. Members. And you touched on it. Protesters returned to the streets of bangkok after the Constitutional Court rejected a petition to disqualify the Prime Minister from office. The ruling says he didnt violate ethics rules by leaving the military and staying in military housing. The verdictay proves legal double standards. Australia says it will not back down on its list of grievances with china. A list of issues including australia meddling in hong kong. Prime minister Scott Morrison says the tension is actually an opportunity to talk. What we need is the opportunity and that is something we have always sought and will continue to do so. We will see what opportunities present. I think this is an opportunity to get together and discuss these issues. Global news, 24 hours a day, onair and at bloomberg quicktake, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. I am karina mitchell. This is bloomberg. Juliette the u. S. House approved legislation that could lead to Chinese Companies being kicked off american exchanges if regulators arent allowed to review their orders. All that is left is for President Trump to sign off on the bill. Has moreTom Mackenzie and joins us from beijing. Tom this bill will land on the desk of President Trump after it was given the green light by the house. That followed a similar move by the senate back in may. Theres been a bipartisan agreement. It looks like it will happen before the changeover of administrations. It compels Chinese Companies listed in the u. S. To open their books to u. S. Inspectors to audit their financial data. They will have to give these inspectors three consecutive years of access. They will also have to confirm whether or not they are controlled by the government. If they fail to give them those three consecutive years of access, they risk being kicked out and effectively banned from the u. S. Heldeason why china has off on allowing access to this point is that it is concerned about what it says are confidentiality risks around exposing this data and information. That is why youve had this push and pull between beijing and washington. Consistentlysaid that this poses a risk and this information poses a risk to investors in these companies. Waiting to see if President Trump indeed signed it into law. The Market Reaction has been relatively muted. Rishaad the u. S. Banning cotton imports from a firm over allegations of slave labor. What more do we know about that . Tom there have been a number of sanctions imposed on individuals, officials, but also for theiras well involvement in what the u. S. Says are human rights abuses. Now you have an additional move, which is the banning of cotton from a particular entity that the u. S. Says is linked to the chinese military. One of the largest producers of cotton. Supplies about one third of all cotton to the u. S. Market. They will be banning this