still too early to declare the economic recovery a complete success. and he says markets should not bet against the war but warns that the crisis may not be over. >> nobody really knows, but in the past so many times we thought that the worst of the crisis was over, and then new waves of instability came in. so i think it's no time for complacency and we have to prepare for the worst. more on the exclusive interview to come on today's program. also we're going to have this. what does the bank plan to do? we'll hear from the ceo. u.s. supreme court wraps up three days of hearing whether the obama health care plan is constitutional. and it may take six months to contain gas leak. what is the prognosis in terms of its energy stock price. before all that, let's see where we're at. christine? >> guess what? a little bit of consolidation in the process. a lot of investors taking a little bit of a breezer. nikkei is down 0.7%. guess what? majority of the companies going ex-~ dividend. the nikkei is downtown 0.7%. the topix is down 0.9%. what that says about a slowing domestic economy. moving this market lower, 2.7%. earnings and fundings weighing in on it. hong kong down 0.8%. this particular market, 0.1%. kospi is down, 0.1%. australian market one of the few to buck the trend. there were comments suggesting that maybe the banks will cut rates to slow the economy and the sensex is down 0.8%. ross, what does your heat map say? >> christine, we've just hit the session highs and we're weighted to just about the outside. neefr 6 to 4 on the dow jones. the ftse down half of 1%. right now it's absolutely fabulous. the cac 40 up 5 points. the ftse, a little bit better, up half of 1% as you can see. as far as the currency markets are concerned, we've got data coming out of the uk a little later, public finances, and obviously the detail of gdp as well. keep an eye on the rise of the sterling/dollar. the yen is a little bit better. we've got some repat rags. down 2.80. euro/dollar, 133.58. remember we hit the high yesterday. now, as far as the bund markets are concerned, they're up slightly. here, 5.3%. ten-year treasuries down the a two-week low. 217.50. gilt is trading at 0.7. 124.84, the nymex price, 106.68. as we keep our eyes, of course, on the peripheral, the italian prime minister mario monti is keeping an eye of things. he's sure they ooher on a steady course of budget repatriation. so as debt fears consider to halt the eurozone, is betting against the euro the right strategy? speaking exclusively to cnbc lorenzo says the euro is to be the strong contender of the second world reserve currency. >> certainly it's not in the interest of emerging markets to go back to a system. it's not good for the world to have only a few safe assets, and if you think about all the problems we had, the euro exchange rate is still there, 130 with the dollar, you know, compared to the japanese yen and the others, it's staying in the range where i'd say it's relatively strong, which means many still believe in the euro and this is a currency that we stay. >> now, if we're talking about the euro as more of a vision for european integration, then we have a clear divide. the older generation, of course, because they're still used to the currencies, they haven't bought it yet. we haven't sold it to them yet. the younger generation who grew up with the euro, for them it's like -- it's self-evident that we should have the same currency. but have politicians and maybe to some extent the ecb failed to sell us the euro as a vision rather than as a currency that's pragmat pragmatic? >> no. maybe it's been too much a vision. i think that, you know, people in the end like visions, but when it comes to a crisis, the vision is maybe too far away. i think maybe the mistake was to think that once we get the euro, then the job is over and, you know, we're all rich and famous and that's not the way it works. once you get the euro, you may be facing tough times or you may need to become fronted with discipline in your behavior. and germany experienced this in 2002, 2003, 2004. now sparnin, italy are facing this. you cannot live in a common currency and have your nominal development, gdp and so forth totally out of line. i mean that's the hard lessons from this crisis. >> is the fiscal pact really a game changer? >> i think it's a condition to move forward. if you want to go toward more risk, more sharing of risk, then we need more discipline. that's the way the united states was created. more discipline at the state's level and progressively more powers to the center. so it's -- it's a give and take if you want. and governments and states have to accept that as a quid pro quo for a stronger europe. >> okay. silvia joins us now. did you get insight into how divided the ecb has been as they sorts of backtracked? they've had to introduce emergency measures and we now know the ecb, the northern wing of it, is desperate to point out how to exit from lto measures. >> we had an interesting discussion about that. you know that i'm always also interested in is there a divide of the national boundaries, et cetera, and what bini smaghi said is, look, you have the completely wrng idea of what's going on. it's pragmatic discussion. nobody has the nationalities inside the ecb council. you can believe that or you cannot, but basically we discuss with what's best for the eurozone as a whole and we don't have this kind of national interests at heart, but the outside, berlin, paris, brussels, wherever you are, rome, they might have a different view about that, especially also the politicians involved. there was a victim of the outside perceived nationality boundaries. he was the third italian on the ecb council, and there was a big huffing and puffing about this that this was completely not on, that france did not have draekter on the executive board and lorenzo bina smaghi event y ually resigned, eve though his term was unn't up. there was a question about the bank not quite adjusting to the new role as one central bank of 17 in the council rather than the only central bank that is heard. i think there is a -- you hear there is a sort of sense of you can't quite say exasperation. that's a bit too much. but maybe the feeling that writing letters is not the right form to voice your concerns. good morning. >> clearly, at the launch of the euro, interest rates were set for germany. that's one of the reasons why countries like spain and ireland got into such big questions. the question now is whether the ecb will be bold enough to set policy for the peripheral and ignore it and allow the higher rate of inflation and accept weakness elsewhere sniet . it's interesting, silvia's opinions. to the extents that that's been overwhelmingly influenced by the traditions and the interests of the bun does bank, what's interesting now is the crisis in the last 12, 18 months has really highlighted this divide. when you look at this and reinforce the discipline and control, ignoring who broke -- who broke the limits first in the past, but really focusing on the importance of stability and monetary discipline, the idea that the ecb should suddenly change its mode of operation and be proactively stimulating growth in the periphery with some kind of trade-off and inflation that's less than optimal against its own history, i think, is eight wille bit fanciful. the reality is i think the ecb continues to operate, so long as we're not in crisis mode, with the view that its job is fundamentally what the bundesbank has represented in the eurozone, so i don't think that there's going to be a realignment, but, you know, the tensions, france wants to have its own representation because it wants its voice heard at the group think table. but i don't think there's a split between the periphery and the call where the mindset ought to go. i think the more important message is this reserve currency role, that they want to see the euro climb back after the trials and tribulations of the last nine months. >> silvia? >> chris, maybe we're all a bit too pessimistic about the way ecb is not changing. maybe it's changing or maybe it's maturing. maybe that's the right word for ichlt we started with the bundesbank mandate. maybe stronger. maybe that's what the euro needed at this time if you look at the action, not the lip service, ltro, bond purchases, at least against its own principles, and an interest rate. i mean where do they have to make interest rates for the periphery. we have almost zero rate in real terms anyway. i'm getting to the point that maybe despite the lip service, the ecb is a lot more pragmatic about how it sees its monetary policy developing. >> i agree, silvia. i think the point i'm trying to make, the group that's evolving is coming from -- i use group thing not pejoratively but to represent that the ecb does have a sense of its own role and responsibility and that was dramatically illustrated back in december with the ltro move and the realization that something needed to be done with the other area of the ecb is. . this was to make sure the whole counterpartyish was resolved with ecb standing in the middle. i think that's changed. it's made it more responsible as a central bank. well rl my point being i don't think you have the requirements from the economic standpoint. the ecb has been a lot more like the fed. the financial system globally rather than just some form of growth development. >> bank lending growth comes in, slow to gain in the eurozone in february in annual terms. this kre b data that's just come out. basically lendings have become weak despite the ltro. they had hope that somehow it would feed its way into the real economy. this suggests that it lineds up on the year. it just ain't going to happen. bank deleveraging is going to outrank everything else. >> i think we have to be careful what policies are introduced. you can make a statement saying we hope this leads to further lending. >> yeah. that was mario draghi's statement. >> it's february, for goingness sake. we're not seeing what's financially a freeze in lending environmental suddenly to turn around and change the dynamics overnight. it allows for the prefunding to get back on their feet, to start realizing what they're doing. to balance their sheets, review the loan book as hound they're going to be on raying in 2012 and 2013. at the same time the ecb stepping into the middle of the equation meant the freezing up of counterparty relationships within the banking system was able to be reduced. so this is a long-term issue that's being addressed by the ltro. we shouldn't be thinking that all a policyma makers should be doing is making sure it remains at the level. we should be making sure the policy platform works. i would completely ignore these data signals telling me anything about the success or failure of the policy. >> he pajted it in those terms himself. if he painted it -- >> you have to recognize he painted it in those terms. what he's trying to recognize is the longer term ambition. >> they're all going do that when they're in a massive deleveraging. silv silvia, thank you very much. more to come from that exclusive interview as well on the banks of the cam. just a reminder, bank confidence, a little bit higher, 97.1%. that's a tick-up. that's good. we've seen yields drop today in europe. the cds is a little bit wider. the french oil major said there was no immediate danger to the platform. they're looking at two options to shut down the shale. it's being reinforced around the sea. chris, we saw -- i mean total was up. bg dropped off as well. what are investors to do with this specific story? >> we're in a classic environment. we receive it in the oil energy sector before where enthusiasm at one minute is replaced by concern over the potential environmental consequences or changes with a fallout. we've seen the stocks move sharply to a valued discount. that's appropriate. if it were remaining as a risk trade, it looks longer. it depends if wow want to take a view whether it's a major crisis. you saw that with bp. six months is the time it might take to deal with this. but bear in mind this total leak is coming from a well they thought they effectively capped. so it was a failure to finish off a job. that may not be as big a crisis, but obviously they're going to be saying six months right because they have to look at all their options. it ooh going to be something that will bounce on positive news but it's a gamble on that basis. i would say it's an advantage to own total in the long term. we like the energy sector. we feel the value has run pretty fully in the last month. i think most energy stocks when they retrace are going get bought by investors. this may be an opportunity to add to positions before quarter end. >> all right, chris. thanks for that. plenty more from you. christine, i've missed you. >> i've missed you, too, but i'm waiting for the sign. not going anywhere. not going anywhere. we're talking about asian tech companies, consolidation and a bid to the best of a bad situation. we'll explain coming up next. welcome back to "worldwide exchange." taiwan's honor high, better known of apple's supply is said to become the biggest shareholder. hon hai will buy sharp for $800 million. meantime sheep says it has no tention to make any further investments in the venture. also says it has the right to shop. mean time hon hai was one of big companies in tie wa-- taiwa. >> companies came out with their four-year report card. let's start with electronics maker hon hai. it beat the street. of course the hon hai is going to secure more manufacturing orders. sharp is outsourcing and they're warning investors about raising chinas in china. cha na's next largest retailer dropped to $291 million. the group said the market was squeezed by higher rent. also we're waiting for full-year results from china's oil giant, their second largest oil refinery, cnooc. petrochina reports more tomorrow. back to you. >> thank you. thank you very much for that. chris, we know. in your report you say china is an excuse. are you implying that any reaction that we're getting about china's slowdown is simply exaggerated? >> well, christine, the point i was making at the end of last week when the markets were getting very vexed about the idea of china's transition and, you know, slowing demand, i think we have to -- we have to be careful to sort of separate the fact that if you're looking at investing in chinese companies or hong kong or taiwanese companies that are directly impacted at the margin from an earnings point of view on the patent demand, of course, you want to look closely at what the data is. suddenly the bond market got hold of a theme that was justifying a sharp slowdown in china, justifying why weal had to run back. i observed a good friend of mine who's based in hong kong who i was talking to a week ago who said what's interesting about china is the further away people are from china, the more certain they are of their views and i certainly experienced that my team in the region. the expectations going on in china, if you talk to people on the ground as you do, you know there's a sense of uncertainty, but that's not new news. one set of headline numb werers giving us a sign that they very going sharply. that was the next shoe to drop is what i was guiding away from. i think china is and has been going in the last ten years through a constant process of transition. i don't think that the china headlines slowing down on one month's exports is something we have to panic about. i think we have to observe and be aware of the information coming through at a corporate level much more than we are with the macronumbers, so your focus on the earnings and the level from a stock level point of view is an important guide to what investors should do. but the idea that there's this bic macro number, let's panic because they've sold off for five days in a row. that's really what i was warning against, christine. china is a significant part of china's decision process maker. i think we have to be careful not to draw too much from a manufacturing defects. by the way it's very different from the mines we know. i don't suppose people whoever with talking about it last week know the difference but the reality is the headline one is traditionally lower than the traditional one and the one that's been below 50 on and off, so the flash pmi is being below 50 for the last four or five months. so it wasn't any big news but it was being presented as big news because you're comparing apples and oranges. i think you have to be careful. >> we've got a bit of data out of cnnoc and then we'll get to the other data. christine, cnnoc? >> the earnings have come in as we speak. coming in at $17.26 billion chinese u.n. people expect it at 16 president 5 billion. we have eps 1.57 un as well and revenue-wise the company is reporti reporting. 28 hong kong sens. we'll update it as it comes through. >> that's actually been revised down to the fourth quarter. a little bit weaker than the uk since the biggest loss in the fourth quarter of 2010. the down revision driven down by the finance sectors. industrial production down on the quarter as well. therefore, the full year, it was up 7.7%. at the same time we've heard from the financial policy committee. they say european legislation could restrain some decisions. they welcome the efforts to make sure the efforts don't impede the fdc and they say it could be used to signal risks. i think we've had as well a little bit on the account. the deficit was 8.5 billion. it was forecast at 8.7. so not quite as bad as we thought. sterling has fallen, though, after that revised gdp data. so the fourth quarter weaker than we thought originally. we'll take a short break. still to come, italian banker and credit is making its way in cleaning up its balance sheet. what does the bank plan to do with all the ltro. we'll hear from the ceo right after this. you're watching "worldwide exchange." the french energy giant says it will take months to stop the gas leak at its you're watching "worldwide exchange." the french energy giant says it will take months to stop the gas leak at its el begin platform as a cloud builds over the north sea. >> hon hai becomes the biggest holder. >> sterling loses a bit of ground after the uk's gdp is revised lower for the first quarter. it's contracted 3% in the last three months of 2011. meanwhile they say they expect to return a profit after posting a 2.3 billion euro loss in 2011. the state run company says it's stepping up restriucturing efforts. it's carried out a review of its business practices. also in italy, unikre did is in the middle of a clean-up process. we caught up yesterday. she joins us from milan. how's he feets, claudia? >> he actually seemed very confident and relaxed versus what we had seen in the past. the situation is this. the fourth quarter came in with a profit. the forth quarter is down 65% from the fourth quarter of 2010. it's still good news. they continue to need to do a lot of work. full year loss was 9.2 billion. but they did go through with a rights issue and they're also continuing on their restrukt during plan that sees a 4% decline in head count. this, of course, has been part of what is weighing on the full year numbers. 63 million euros is what they took in terms ofarily retirements and settlements, also $70 million worth of write-downdowns on greek government bonds. revenues continued to decline. what they worked on was the cost cutting. remember that the shares lost 66% last year. this was one of the first banks to move forward with cleaning up its balance sheet. that's the best one. that's where they're expecting 2012 to do well. they didn't distribute a dividend in 2011. they plan on doing it in 2012. the resilience of the ba