Promises and his administrations performance so far. We have world coverage on daybreak asia, live in tokyo for japans latest inflation data and a breakdown on nintendos results. Betty here in new york we will look at big earnings from Technology Companies and talk to a former u. S. Ambassador to china, from montana. President trump is set to mark his first 100 days in office on saturday. This is daybreak asia live from bloombergs u. S. And asian headquarters. I am betty liu in new york where it is after 7 00 p. M. Yvonne i am yvonne man. Forhoneymoon period President Trump may be over soon, marking those 100 days in office. We are marking it with policy with saw. Betty whiplash, in fact. Lets look at how the markets closed today. It was whiplash. We went up and down throughout the session, there were lots of questions about how we get through tax reform, are we going to repeal obamacare, are we in or out of nafta . We ended fundamentally higher, earnings doing well. The nasdaq composite up 4 10 of 1 . In thee dow and s p green, but barely. Tomorrow we have more economic numbers to shed light on the u. S. Economy. That is a first look at First Quarter gdp. Also, tech stocks, earnings front and center. See how things are trading in the asian pacific. Slow going on the final trading day of the month. This is how new zealand is trading, flat for the index. Trade get the new zealand balance, this one back into positive territory. In line with estimates. The kiwi not doing too much. 1 10 of 1 ,out. 6883 for the kiwi dollar. Futures looking pretty soft as you mentioned here with the aussie dollar. U. S. Cents. About 50 minutes time, with fresh signs on Household Spending, inflation, Industrial Production. Futures unchanged, looks pretty boring. The yen. R we have been Holding Around 111 for days now. It dipped lower after that ecb meeting but we come back slightly up. That was a look at the region. We have been talking about this updown session in wall street. We have that looming government struck down to worry about. Betty but before we get to that, i want to break news, the biggest lender in Southeast Asia and singapore. United overseas bank coming in with firstquarter net income. That is a handy beat above estimates of 756 million. Loans and noninterest income, that helping the bottom line. We will watch the stock price. 1. 5 . Tio at lets get the first word news with courtney collins. Draghipresident mario made a small concession to policymaking colleagues, wanting to discuss an exit from qe. Said rifts were moving toward a more balanced configuration, marking a change. Between now and is june 8 meeting, the ecb faces uncertainty over how and when it should wind down stimulus. The incoming data since our confirmed early march that the cyclical recovery of that european economy is becoming increasingly solid. Downside risks have further diminished. Chinas campaign to clean up its Financial System is winning attention from the best investors. Templeton and Fidelity International are among those endorsing measures recently announced by regulators to curb leverage. They want more transparency and speculation. They called on authorities to fight it falling to a threemonth low. Oils gradual recovery easing the pain of shipping outlook at chinas output that chinas companies. Production had fallen more than 6 from a year ago. Net income doubled even as output fell slightly. Sina faces a drop in production. China is ahead of the u. S. As the worlds Top Oil Buyer. It is a rare case for an activist investor, targeting a private equity term firm. They own almost 5 of kkr. They are discussing the possibility of converting kkr from a partnership to a corporation. Their shares as 5 overnight to a one year high. Foriba said to favor kkr its memory chip operation. But the selling of the unit vettingce a prolonged process with the japanese government, desperate to avoid the Technology Going abroad. They are inclined toward assisting the Capital Investment and funding. Global news 24 hours a day, powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. I am courtney collins, this is bloomberg. Yvonne a big story the asian markets will be watching is the data from japan. Bank of japan says it is too early to talk about it exit plan from a highpowered policy of monetary still stimulus. But they stuck to their guns when it comes to the 2 inflation target. Bring our policy editor Kathleen Hays, joining us live from tokyo. What are we expecting, is data going to match what kuroda said yesterday . Kathleen governor kuroda is staking a lot of his forecast on inflation steadily rising for that 2 target. The labor market is getting tighter. Today we look at the japan jobless rate, it rose to 2. 9 . Also, jobs to applicants rate supposed of old at 1. 43. 1. 4 jobs open for every single job applicant. Jump into the bloomberg and you lines, one going in one direction. The job applicant ratio is rising. They are working in the direction governor kuroda and his team want to see. Here is what is more troublesome. Household spending rising 0. 1 yearoveryear, after failing 4 in february. Better retail sales in march should help it. Governor kuroda said he is watching the economy. He is very datadependent. He looks for inflation to move higher and exit the stimulative ologies. Implement the exit strategy depends on the status of the economy, inflation, as well as the financial conditions at the time. Discussing the specifics of the exit at this point is premature. We will communicate with the markets as needed. The bank of japan gave a small nod to the fact inflation is rising more slowly than they had hoped. From 1. 5forecast cut to 1. 4. The 20 2019 was the first time they gave that forecast. They are determined. Fiscal year 2018 is 2019 wast time they gave that forecast. When kuroda says inflation will hit that 2 target. Does it seem like there is a newfound optimism in japan . There seems to be at the bank of japan. Straight quarters of gdp growth, it has not happened in many years. Governor kuroda mentioned in terms of rising wages, wages are rising at small and mediumsized businesses. When you look at one point for applicants per job you can see the labor market is tight. Enough forges rising people to feel confident they can spend our money and get used to seeing the type of price increases, that both economists and central bankers say you have to say . The markets are betting against inflation rights. Saidst in the previous our Consumer Expectations of the next five years have weekend. Weakened. They have a lot of work to do. Yvonne a lot of economists thinking eventually therell be a time when the boj will have to start exiting or tightening. But those speculations to bed . Kathleen i think he was so clear, it is premature, it is not time, it is something they do not have on the table yet. Cement theseto expectations, show everyone the bank of japan is determined, we are not giving up, we will get the economy going and engineer its gradual meeting, a definite rise toward 2 inflation. Signal, takingo your foot off the monetary accelerator. Kuroda has it pushed to the floor, doesnt he . Yvonne he certainly does. Nintendo switch does not give the company the boost analysts were expecting. Focus on President Trumps first 100 days. The hits and misses with a former u. S. Senator. This is bloomberg. Betty good morning, this is daybreak asia, i am betty liu in new york. Yvonne i am yvonne man in hong kong. Japans biggest brokers returned to the black. They posted a profit of 551 million compared to 170 million lost a year ago thanks to a drop in trading income. Nomura overseas businesses became profitable as well. Looking at a base for european operations. Theyre also looking at units in frankfurt. We are aware of the concerns of the sustainability of recovery in our overseas operation. But our Customer Base is not only strong, but expanding. We hope to generate stable profits by maintaining control of risks and costs. Bank china construction posting crude First Quarter profits. That income rose to more than 10 billion through march. 3. 4 better than a year earlier. Chinas big lenders had been struggling with narrowing margins. Their Economic Growth accelerating for two straight quarters. Sales alphabet beat projections, ending a fouryear streak of missing postholiday estimates. It rose 20 billion as google shifted its focus toward handset and a surge in clicks on ads in mobile. Ads runningut offensive videos. They want to reassure clients that youtube is safe. Brands and agencies understand how hard we work to create a safe atmosphere. Innovative creators can earn money to support the content. They have been actively engaged in conversations about the controls we are providing and a been having very productive discussions. Regardless, i am sure he is a rich man that he is a long way to go before he catches up with jeff bezos of amazon. Based on the earnings we saw, jeff bezos is now only 5 billion away from being the worlds richest man. Has surpassed 80 billion for the first time. Billion since65. 2 we debuted this index we put together, ranking the worlds richest billionaires. He has had this huge runup in the last few years. Of course, the worlds richest is still bill gates. On this index he has been number one cents may 17 of 2013. We may have a new king very soon. Billionhe gained a 3. 3 in just the afterhours trade. Take a look at that chart. You can see how much they are riding the wave we see in the s p. An unbroken record, 20 years straight of doubledigit Revenue Growth coming out of amazon. It shows no signs of slowing. They appear to be firing on all cylinders when it comes to not just their core business but amazon prime looks good, web services looking good as well. We will talk more about the us this. This is bloomberg. Yvonne this is daybreak asia, i am yvonne man in hong kong. Betty i am betty liu in new york. Saturday marks President Trumps 100 days in office. The white house has been scrambling to offer a viable Health Care Bill since it first effort failed last month. Our next guest played an influential role in the debate over health care and finance reform. Joining us now from montana. At senator, good to have you back on bloomberg. In these in this artificial first 100f trumps days, the gdp is trying to get obamacare repealed and they cannot seem to get the right number of votes yet. If they cannot do that, how will they get tax reform through . You raise a very good question. As therience is that chairman of the finance committee, president s have their most power in the First Six Months of their presidency. That, it tends to go down hill, but as you get closer to midterm elections in general elections, politics starts to intervene. Thiss got to make good on First Six Months. The first 100 days are shaky at best. He is very good on the rhetoric. Theh in the box for all Campaign Promises he made. But he is very weak on actual performance. Where is the beef . Where are the results . It is because of his inexperience. His and the people around them, they have no government experience to speak of. Surely no experience on health care or tax reform. Problem is the tyranny of the majority, there is a tendency to believe that because you are the Majority Party you can ram something through, and you cannot. In my experience in the chairmanship, you have to work with people. In all major legislation i worked on, especially health care, that everyone was at the table. Every concept is on the table, we work together, both parties. It works very well. The same thing with tax reform. Something that complicated, both health care and tax reform, has to be worked on both political parties. Betty some might argue on the other hand that President Trump has tried very hard to make change, to get through change, even flouting normal procedures. Congress is adjusted so dysfunctional that even he is getting mired in person politics. That would be the argument on the other side. Sen. Baucus i do not buy it. He has been criticizing people so much, democrats, the media, the judiciary. When you criticize people you tend not to get much accomplished. The us to swallow some of his pride and ego, worked to get legislation passed for the good of the people. Is not about winning points for one party or the other, but to help the people we are serving. If he can show he cares about and say wen people, out, getork this something we can both live with, then we can make headway. Yvonne senator, what kind of boost could this type of boost have on the out, get something we can economy . Could generate the amount of growth the white house is saying, that it could pay for itself . Sen. Baucus it is a very big question. Reform,really not tax it is a tax cut, basically a proposal. A my judgment, just to make big splash. A lot of ceos are buying into it, to help their stock and so forth. Presented, because there is virtually no way to pay for it, it raises a lot of questions, there is not enough or do not see it much there. I worry it is another attempt to but not a statement, serious effort to get something passed. I hope it passes because we need tax reform. We have to cooperate. Should a border adjustment tax still be on the table . Sen. Baucus it should come up but it is fraught with all kinds of problems. Industry, Major Industries in the u. S. , many of their products rely on supplies from overseas. If there is a big import tax on supplies from overseas it will make it difficult for American Companies to export their products, it is extremely complicated. I think it is a hard time flying. It raises 1 trillion to help pay for cuts elsewhere. Frankly i think it is too complicated. Not enough time has been put into it. It is essentially a speaker ryan proposal. It has not been vetted thoroughly. Sit down andet, talk. Senator, i want to switch over to what is going on in asia and what we have seen with trump asia,her countries in specifically china and north korea. John mccain saying he believes fight, to go to war with north korea is a last resort. Trumpsou think handling the situation, and you believe he also believes in the next 100 days those relations will go down . Sen. Baucus President Trump is learning, i will give him great credit for that. After he publicly questioned the one china policy it created a lot of consternation in china and asia. But he is backed off significantly when he met with resident she at merrill lago maralago. At starting with north korea, President Trump is somewhat on the right track. Korean nuclear and missile threat is getting very, very serious. It is very important that President Trump starts to focus more on trying to solve the problem. Has done so in many ways, aircraft carriers, submarines. However, i think he has to work more with china. Xi, howd tell president do you and i both solve this . Yvonne senator when kim jongun realizes there is no regime change. Yvonne stick with us. This is bloomberg. Yvonne we are counting down to asias first major market open this morning. Japan futures looking like this, a lot of cautiousness again. We saw a lot of whiplash when it came to health care. This is a day after. An optimistic view of the economy but they did cut their inflation forecast. Lets get the Kathleen Hays with more. We have better than forecasted numbers for the month of march on the labor markets. The jobless rate remained at 220 , a very low level. The survey of bloomberg economists, and uptake of 2. 9 . When it comes to the jobs to 1. 45cant ratio, arise to positions open to every worker. They were expecting it to beach unchanged at 1. 43. A small change. Here is a conundrum for the boj, overall Household Spending year on year down 3 . Previous month, february, showed a decline of 3. 8 . It is a question for the boj of when and how does a tight labor market translate into more spending . Can i throw to a spot first . We are going to get back with you for more on these numbers and Household Spending is not a damper for the boj. Lets check in on the reaction in the markets. That core cpi coming in as estimated at 0. 2 on year. The yen, not much reaction at 111. 22. Coming up at the opening of 111. 26. Say onhat the boj had to thursday, it lowered its forecast for cpi, given it does not expect to hit its 2 target by its initial forecast. The boj is only halfway to its price target. I want to take a quick look at the euro, which surged after the french vote. 121s falling back below after draghi made a commitment to stimulus. Ecb holding off on exiting for the meantime. Lets check out japanese stocks are set to open. We can take a look at the futures board, we are looking at that set up in tokyo, seoul, and sydney. The Software Open down 2 10 of 1 . Japans reaction to cpi. Thank you, the reaction to that japan data. Lets get back to our conversation with former senator max baucus, former u. S. Ambassador to china. We had a conversation on north korea. China walking a fine line between the u. S. And pyongyang right now. I am curious to get your take on this. Is north korea going to be the corridor that china uses this regarding trading currency issues . How significant is north korea as a bargaining chip . Sen. Baucus first of all, it is a mistake for President Trump to ,uggest he bargain with china north korea, for trade. A big mistake. Urgency of the National Security threat we face from north korea. China ono deal with trade directly. China is very protectionist, there is no question. Overcapacity in semiconductors, for example. Let alone new commodities like solar and wind power. To deal with that directly in china has to back off. The United States