Interview: Citigroup --- Chief executive
NYSE --- Julie (slow)
>> 9:12 a.m. in sydney. expect cloudy periods throughout the day with isolated showers mainly in the morning as well as at night with a high temperature of 22 degrees celsius. ukraine moves a step closer to holding new presidential elections. paul gordon has more on that and other world news from hong kong. good morning.
>> very good morning to you. ukrainian prime minister viktor yanukovich loses a confidence vote in parliament. 229 of the 235 lawmakers present opposed yanukovich. around half the legislators failed to attend the vote. the supreme court has failed to rule on whether to rerun the presidential elections. opposition supporters said this was widespread voter fraud. leonid kuchma says it is possible that two new candidates should run in a new election. the jailed leader of yasser arafat’s fatah faction registers to run for the palestinian presidency. barghouti was registered boy his wife. he is serving a life sentence in connection with the killings of five will people. u.s. secretary of state colin powell called barghouti’s candidacy problematic. israel’s parliament rejects the budget and may force ariel sharon into early elections. shanoy opposed the deal. the u.s. military says it’s boosting troop levels in iraq in preparation for next january’s election there is. a military spokesperson says the u.s. army will send 800 extra troops to iraq and lengthen the strengths of 1,000 more. the interim iraqi government is scheduled elections for january 30, the first national poll since the u.s.-led coalition ousted saddam hussein in march of 2003. cathy, that is world news. back to you.
>> thanks, paul. america’s top executives say they are upbeat about the economy’s prospects next year. a survey of corporate leaders shows the second highest reading in two years when it comes to confidence about growth and spending. su keenan tells us there are changes in sentiment from the last quarter. what changes are these?
>> just more conservative view. the latest business roundtable survey shows they’re pulling back optimism when it comes to economic growth and consumer spending, more so than we saw in the third quarter. the biggest change in outlook, one in five c.e.o.’s expect a decline in hiring here in the u.s. for early 2005. the lobbying group’s fourth-quarter outlook index at 99, demonstrating close to record confidence about the u.s. economic outlook, the second highest reading since the survey began in late 2002 and roughly two points below the third quarter when c.e.o. confidence was at its highest. while readings over 50 represent an improving economy, this latest survey represents the first decline we’ve seen after six straight quarters of rising confidence. on average, the c.e.o.’s trimmed their forecast of economic expansion by .1% from last quarter. wilwhile that is below the consensus forecasts of economists, the business council’s spokesman says the companies he surveys are realistic.
>> we’re past the period where we needed the kind of economic stimulus that came in 2001 and 2003 that we called for and now business investment can keep the economy going, the consumer stays in there if we don’t have things thaticide side track in the future.
>> 80% expect hiring to increase or remain the same in the next six months. 20% predict a decline, almost double the 12% of executives who were bearish on hiring last quarter. you also have the fact that executives polled are predicting sales would increase in the next six months. 85% say that will happen compared to 89% in november. the executives are bullish when it comes to capital spending plans. 50% said they plan increases. c.e.o.’s are expressing three concerns―healthcare costs and litigation, and the last issue is rising energy costs.
>> thanks for that, su. coming up, the dollar falls to a record low against the euro and its weakest since 1992 against the pound. we’ll ask a strategist in new york where why investors are staying away from the dollar.
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Listen Market briefing --- Cathy (medium)
Asia pacific regions --- David (medium)
welcome to “ live” from singapore. i’m catherine yang. china’s top bank regulator tells bloomberg it might be a while before some state banks are cleaned up and ready to go public.
>> for design, effective and efficient tailor-made reform package for icbc and bank of china, it takes a long time.
>> our exclusive interview with liu mingkang is coming your way in 30 minutes. also coming up, as the dollar reaches new lows against the euro, a currency strategist will tell you how he’s playing the market . learn how shareholders are reacting to china’s aviation oil trading scandal. as gold heads higher, we’ll hear from the managing director of an australian gold mining firm. our reporters are standing by in sydney and tokyo, ready to set the agenda for the day ahead in asia. oil drops almost 7.5%, the biggest fall in three years. u.s. government reports showed an increase in fuel inventories last week. the energy department said supplies of distillate fuels climbed 2% last week to almost 118 million barrels, the biggest increase in four months. refineries have been operating at 94% of their capacity since september. on wall street, stocks rallied on that news. this is the s&p’s highest close since august 2001. and the nasdaq rose 2%. consumer spending rose more than economists expected. spending increased 7.1% in october. personal income had its biggest rise in five months, up .6%. more factories reported an increase in orders and hiring in november. u.s. treasuries fell after the federal reserve said the economy continued to expand from mid october through mid november with growth accompanied by numerous reports of hiring and increased cost proficiency. on friday in the u.s., investors will be focused on the employment report. another day, another record low for the dollar. the dollar fell to 1.3336 versus the euro and hit a 12-year low versus the british pound, getting close to $2 against the u.k. currency. the dollar is falling on continued speculation the bush administration favors a weak dollar policy to boost exports and cut the account deficit. san francisco federal reserve bank president janet yellen said the trade gap is holding back u.s. growth. she did drop a hint on interest rates, saying inflation is well contained and suggested the fed does not need to be aggressive in raising interest rates. commodity priced in dollars sometimes gain when the dollar falls. asian stocks rise in u.s. trading. japanese carmakers, toyota and honda gained. toyota reported a jump in u.s. car sales. bank of new york a.d.r. index rose as well as the nikkei futures. we go to david tweed in sydney. what stocks will react to the drop in crude prices.
>> the biggest drop in crude prices in three years. you have to look at the airlines which are fuel-cost dependent and mining companies like b.h.p. as metal has gone up and crude oil has dropped on speculation that economic growth in the united states will be sustained, that means sustained demand for metals. also, in asia retail stocks have been falling and consumer discretionary stocks have fallen as consumer confidence in the u.s. dropped according to the report this week. why did consumer confidence drop? because people weren’t spending as much due to higher oil costs. fuel costs go down, consumer confidence may rise. look at the department stores in japan that have fallen this week, marui, hankyu department stores also has fallen and harvey norman has fallen 4.4% this week as retail spending in australia dropped for the reason of higher oil prices so we might see that reverse.
>> before you go, what else will investors be looking for in today’s trading?
>> you referenced the car stocks so we might see those rising but that could be shifted by the fact that yesterday we came out with good numbers. nissan and toyota led u.ss sales gains of asian stocks in november. nissan sales rose 26% in november compared with a year ago and toyota was up 4.4% and the south korean carmakers, as well. hyundai motors and one of its affiliates, kia, all of the five big south korean carmakers had an increase in sales in november, up about 26%. you also would be looking in australia once again at w.m.c. resources. this, of course, is a company under takeover bid from xstrata. xstrata bid is 6.35. the stock is currently trading at 7.20 so clearly people expect another bid to come in and today there are reports that rio tinto is talking with legal counsel and engineering consults as it prepares a bid so we’ll watch rio tinto stock today.
>> australian housing prices probably had their biggest drop on record in the latest quarter as the property market slows. economists we surveyed expect house prices fell 2% in the third quarter. australia’s treasurer, peter costello, said he would welcome a decline in the market .
>> the increase in the housing market is slowing. something that i have been pointing to for a long time now and something that the government would, in fact, welcome, because we believe that in the last 12 months to 18 months, the level of increase in housing prices was very strong and would not, should not continue at that level for a long period of time.
>> australia reports third-quarter housing prices at 11:30 today in sydney. nissan and toyota motor lead u.s. sales gains for asian automakers in november, maintaining a pace that may give regional companies almost 35% of the worldwide market this year. nissan and toyota are benefiting from new models such as nissan’s sport utility vehicle. november gains for the 10 asian automakers that compete in the u.s. probably will push the asian market share above the record 34.4%. sales at general motors and ford motor tumbled. after the break, ukrainian prime minister viktor yanukovich loses a confidence vote in parliament.
