The ting jay y. Lee as investigation into south koreas scandal looks to iden to other conglomerates. Takata surges in tokyo after maker ubled airbag settles on a billion Dollar Settlement in the u. S. And with trade data from china will the implications of presidency be reaching. Examining reaction to at whats ng going on as far as the yuan goes, were still about 29 inutes away from the start of trading here in Hong Kong China a mixed picture when it comes to whats happened so far. Who is ve look at coming online and how they are changing the narrative. Malaysia, all starting their session. Kick off with in thegoing on, currency space given that a dollar is showing weekly loss. Fed chair yellen bolster the case of tightening policy. Traders tell us that funds overnight low to further unwind dollar ong positions and that laernl exporters are seen elling the yuan keeping below the 1,200 yuan level koreafter the bank of held its rate at 1. 25 , as largely expected. We do have gold steady after a four day rally. 1200 an ow did ounce mark after surging past that overnight. Of course, today were on for a china trade numbers for december. So a mix day in asia so far. We have the likes of takata oday, which is helping to boost the picture for japanese shares. The best performer in the region so far this morning best ey are the winners in asia since trumps win. But over in sydney, we do weakness there coming about. 8 . Indonesia looks to ease bands of nickel exports. Negative for producers in the region. We have that playing out as sumitomo,likes of the over 5 , given moves are negative for the industry. We have retailers on the rally, after beating Third Quarter profits and a quick look at whats going on. 4 . Ospi down given what we saw, of course, with samsungs air, questioninghour related to the bribery probe. Thats the picture so far. Thank you very much. Lets get up to speed with whats going on with the in the news to lines, lets get it sydney and heidi. As we mentioned, takata shares are some of the best tokyo this n morning. Currently looking like they 16. 5 . By a massive the surge comes on reports that the company is close to eaching a settlement with the u. S. Justice department over its airbag scandal. Its believed that a fine of p to a billion dollars could be announced as soon as friday. The automaker may also face after its arges devices were linked to at least 17 deaths. Settlement would allow takata to move forward with its search for a buyer. New has named their chairman replacing mystery. Popularly known as chandra. The head of asias Biggest Software exporter 2009. During his tenure shares have tripled while net fourfold grown making it indias Largest Company by market value. Boertdso been on the of india central bank. The founder of sxwrij scaramucci has been named an assistant to elect trump. Hell take on an advisory role after being among supporters and a member of his transition team. Hes as the mooch, been seeking to sell his in preparation for a possible white house role. Senate republicans took their first big step towards dismantling obama care and now its over the house republicans. Lawmakers are expected to friday on ay as budget resolution that would set the repeal effort in motion. Still get d delayed with many policymakers concerned about taking this step without an eventual replacement. A day, 24 hours 2,600 journalists and analysts across more than countries. Bloomberg. The samsung jay y. Lee is back home after some 22 as a of questioning suspect in koreas undue influence scandal. Prosecution saying he denied most of the allegations, that the investigation will now be widened. Peter. Ring in will ks like chaebol perhaps be fingered here as well. Whats the latest . Yes. So jay y. Lee went in for questioning yesterday morning 9 30 local time. He was questioned overnight. He was released, the special prosecutor spokesman said 7 30 this morning and went home after that. Into re digging allegations of bribery around payments that samsung close ade to a adviser to the president of the country in exchange for favors. Ly political thats what they are investigating at this point. As it was an, released today, said they would decide soon, probably within the next day or so actually ey will harge lee with these allegations. One of the prosecutors do we know any of the more details and what charges, any word on that . Focussed on samsung, specifically, friend made to the of president parks. And samsung admits that it did make some of these ayments including a horse that was worth about a billion yuan or almost a Million Dollars and payments for horse riding lessons for the daughter of this woman. Samsung says the government frequently comes to them and asks for money and they are saying there is nothing wrong with this. This is what the companies ofto try to support some these political efforts, but as the specifics have come publicthis case, the has been upset about some of these details. It looks like the questions samsung d whether made these payments in exchange for some Government Support in some mergers that they needed to allow weed to top of Samsung Group so they are digging into that and they are going to decide shortly on the question of whether they are going to proceed with charges. The latest gauge on the health of the chinese economy. That should be in about an her or so. December trade data out. Having a look. Breaking out the numbers. Of whate us an idea we can expect. Were expecting those numbers to break at 10 00 beijing time. Survey by bloomberg points to a contraction in 4 . Rts of in terms of the imports, up 3 e seen picking in december yearonyear numbers. Weve seen the exports for korea, they were stronger in than in november. So that may prove to be a catalyst that may point to stronger demand that might help the exports well. China as in terms of the imports, they are expected to be driven by the infrastructure on, ing thats going particularly demand for commodities like crude and copper. Ahead, to later this year, there are, of course, risks around trump and any stance that he takes on china and u. S. Trade relations as a risk that analysts are trying to play into and work out what kind of impact that will have. Of course, as things like the slowing property sector here as well, so all trying tohings be fought off when were looking at these numbers. Exports, the will yen and if that support exports. Tom, we had money supply data out of the country yesterday. We saw the headline. Grabbed that headline. It did seem that these to reign in credit, they arent exactly are they . , thats right. As Bloomberg Intelligence a lot of here is positive talk and not much action because the money supply data points to being ing credit pumped into the system. If you look at total social finance, that number came in 1. 63 trillion. U. S. 236 billion dollars. Way above the estimates of 1. 3 trillion for the total social finance envelope terms of the money supply 11. 3 for the month of december. Just marginally below the 11. 4 , number of and weve got a chart that divergence now between the m2 money supply and the slowing gdp growth thats a level of concern for many analysts here. Bloomberg intelligence m2 money that 210 ly to gdp ratio hit in september of last year 150 in to around 2008. Bloomberg intelligence they dont ll, see with a property set for slowdown very likely this around the risks trade with trump. The growth can continue without continued expansion of credit here. Another thing that we saw pick up was shadow banking loans and weve spoken to eople here, the policymakers and advisers to the government who say this is a key concern as well. Those g in some of shadow banking loans but loans but p they pick up in december. So continued concerns around the credit environment here, and a desire amongst nalysts and economists to see policymakers matching their words with action. Tom, thanks for that. Guarding the coup. Creative way to protect chickens in china. One week away from his inauguration. Were discussing the markets trump about a presidency. Global investors next. Bloombergack with markets. This news has just come from london. Talking about the good and the bad. Lets just get the bad, bad s of the news out first. For 2017. Mainly. Ics thats really everywhere you look whether its the u. S. , election, practically every month over year, and then we have policy shift in china as well. Hat will create continued volatility. Was amazing. Now, thing is after each one f them, we saw equity markets and other markets as well recover. They were all great buying opportunities. Actually, certainly the first two were better than last st because the was a very short buying opportunity. But they were, and i think really what weve got to make sure of, that were prepared for, as we get this volatility, that were ready to take action. Weknow stocks to buy and do it with conviction, and thats, you know, what we were doing through the last year. To do. ll continue as we go through. This year, when we look from t happens a week today, donald trump being sworn into office, the theme s, people are concerned about trade protectionism here. Of course, we dont know, do e, because, i mean, he tweets, but then he contradicts himself and then sorecontradicts himself, ultimately, what do you actually trade on . The facts. When we actually know, then that will give us more to go on. Tax reform on because thats going to be a major difference to earnings, and so, we want to know what the rate is. We want to know whats going repatriation, and onboard adjustments as well. So we need to know the facts. Meantime, its just noise but were getting some noise. Rough the you get some idea of where hes coming from. There are some themes in you pick out about, obviously, employment and up courts are picking and that now and realizing its an idea to make some statements, so you can pick themes but until we get some hard policy, its to do too much. This year does seem to be a change. Away kind of pivoting from, lets say, Monetary Policy towards more fiscal policy, but again, proof pudding n the there. Rom a deflation or disinflationary environment, it doesnt necessarily mean and good mics Economic Growth and perhaps to geopolitical concerns and plurality. Its elsewhere, that really eing a shift from disinflationdeflation toward bitter inflation. It is energy but some of it is core. Thats a big change. Move up that weve seen in bond yields is a big hange and does look like ts quite its quite a secular change. Thats really interesting. Breaking news at the moment. 6. 89 as fixed at opposed to yesterdays, a little bit of strength there for the yuan, probably due to some of the weakness in the dollar. Thats theme, isnt it, certainly . The dollar strength. Pulled back a little bit. Could you argue its a gut check. Ow does that change the dynamic . It. Changes the dynamic for korp corporate corporates. Youll see some changes in earnings. With apple, but the big multinationals as well. It matters for them. And it does obviously matter or the domestic investors, wherever you happen to be. Does it change your then . Tment hors no. The companies we invest in tend to be pretty well edged for currency. Not investing in companies which tend to be very domestic. The companies [inaudible] there is a loss of internal hedging with these companies. Good. s get to the eve sort of got into good add bad things, i guess. Lets get to the good stuff in that egg. Good signs of recovery, the pmis have been stoking up manufacturingwise, at least. Yes, i think thats been rather overlooked when you evaluations. There has been a lot of focus on the u. S. , and growth in ominal the u. S. But really the focus on has been much more on politics and less on improving the underlying trend. Very low growth. You cant get overexcited about it but its going in the right direction, plus weak currency, and you have Interest Rates low for longer in europe than do you in the u. S. I think, to us, when you look at where the it looks ies are as if there is more upside potential in europe plus margin. Ential on britain, lets leave things on britain. Surprising growth here. Mark, upping the ante a little bit when it comes to the latest forecast, know, tion, well, you europe needs britain as much as britain needs europe, if not more so. Is changing a little bit. We dont know anything yet, problem. Hats the we dont know anything. Deal we know what the will be on trade, and that ould take a long time its impossible to say what the impact will be on growth. The fact that the momentum going within the uk at the moment is primarily currency. H thats clearly been helping some of the mid size manufacturers. Consumption has kept ticking along. At the top has slowed down but it really Means Nothing until we know what will be happening with were very much on old waiting to see what happens. Well have to hear from theresa may as well. Breaking news. Suspendednker was yesterday, of course, as we awaited this announcement. Vankes major shareholders sell its will entire stake in the country. This has been the fly in the feud thatsthis been going on with the company perhaps ending it by announcing it will sell holding for just shy of 5. 5 billion to the companys second largest shareholder. Metro, of course, has been he other party fighting over this company. The deal offers temporary has been ich involved in the battle for control in over a year. Ahead ed on thursday of this announcement, up 8 just after that premarket auction period. Up, china is striking back against hawkish comments from the u. S. Secretary of state nominee tillerson the details are on the way. China is pushing back against hawkish statements tillerson that beijing should be restricted islands in ng the South China Sea. Of , give us an idea what the chinese response has been and perhaps what it might be. Like these t comments obviously. Rex tillerson said that reclamation and claims to the island is akin the crimea. King he said they were illegal nd shouldnt be allowed to continue. Beijings response, while ather measured from the Foreign Ministrys let me read you some of the comments coming from the china daily today. Tillersons. Comments would be disastrous if acted upon in the real according to the china daily and sets a course for a devastating confrontation united china and the states. The comments are not really worth taking seriously. Editorialid do an on this. Not taken seriously because they are a miss mash day, way eve shortsightedness, warn out prejudices and unrealistic fantasies but they are perpetuating it by writing an editorial on it. Global times says the u. S. Has no power to dominate the South China Sea tillersons comments far from professional. He Foreign Ministry spokesperson said like the u. S. , china has the right ithin its own territory to carry out normal activities. Very measured. Very measured, because they believe that to be territory. Yes. This is what james mattis had to say. Es trumps pick to be the defense secretary. He was actually more measured. Mad dog mattis, right . Hes the retired marine general. This is what he had to say. International waters or and national waters, weve got to figure out how do we deal withholding on to of rules that we have made over many years that led to the prosperity nations, not just for ours. And ill just give you one more quote from davis. Hes a strategist, he says war, with oing to china, there is nothing the do. Icans can well, thats short of going to war. It really is. A lot on leave the table. A lot has been said. Well see. Exactly. Thats the point, isnt it. Very much. U free market, up by onefifth of 1 . Seconddegreeing on reports over the takata defective air bags. This is Bloomberg Markets asia. We look at whats happening shanghai and Hong Kong Open thats upon us in a little under 50 seconds from now. Well also be looking at to, of course, trade data. Hose are the numbers for december. It should give us an idea ow the domestic side of things is going. As the country tries to wean its credit binge and investment spending, to more of a self propelled economy based on consumerism rather than anything else. Were looking for that number in about half an hour minutes. Doesnt come out exactly on time, oddly enough. Lso looking at the bank of korea, Interest Rates on hold. Pretty much in line with the economists thinking. By onefifthup 1 . Checking in on the currency space given the we got this morning. Were seeing yuan with lead in asia. Trading around the 1181 a k, strengthen for second day and well be waiting to hear from the korea governor later this morning. Delivering the Central Banks updated growth and inflation at 10 20 or 2017 a. M. Hong kong time. Dollaryen did touch a 76 month low of 113 spot overnight and Morgan Stanley long withng going the dollaryen correction, creating buying pportunities and the strongest this week, 89. 98. Ust to check on offshore staying around the six spot 86 level amid the broad ollar weakness weve been seeing but earlier touching six spot 86. A look at the trading action asia with shanghai and hong kong coming online. Seeing both equity indices in green. Going on whats in hong kong first they did reverse yesterday but now up third of a percent. China rising earlier the deal with the metro group and shanghai snapping a third day snapping throw days of declines, now rising here region where in the were seeing japanese shares retailers. 4 with helping support the advance there. Thanks very much. Lets get you caught up with the latest first word news headlines. Lets go to sydney and join heidi for that. Samsung shares are 22 hours of questioning as the suspect koreas scandal. Lee denied most of the allegations. A decision to arrest him ill be taken team or tomorrow. The investigation is set to widen to other groups. Says she doesnt want key elements of dodd rolled back. She made the announcement ith educators in washington, d. C. During the Campaign Donald trump said he plans to dismantle the reform. Also spoken out against it. The f. B. I. Is being handling ver its of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. The Justice Department will eview whether appropriate procedures were followed during the initial probe. And also the reopening of case just days before the president ial election. Democrats believe that action helped trump win with a former clinton spokesperson calling the appropriate and necessary. Shares plum