stimulating discussions. here is china's concern that the slowdown has gone too far. emerging from the ruins. we finalize the list of reforms that could release $3 billion in aid. -- lol,fairway singapore says goodbye to lee kuan yew. i'm angie "first up", lau. china's governor says growth is

the -- the world's second-largest economy has slumped to far for his liking. china has the tools to deal with it, both were speaking at a forum. with mark, christine give us some details here. he always has his own press session for mainly local press. at this session he openly said that china's growth rate has fallen a little bit too much for his liking. figures have not been very positive either. he also warned of the disinflation trends we are currently seeing. we need to watch to see if deflation will become a possibility. . fair bit of caution there but he did also say that china does have room to act with

interest rates and quantitative measures. with economies expectations that there will be more with rate cuts. zhou also said thahat we need to have patience to see the steps that were already taken. china has gone through to rate cuts. -- 2 rate cuts. china site the weakest expansion since 1990 last year. the president also open the conference. he was a little bit more optimistic. says that even though china's growth is slowing, china can offer asian nations trade and investment opportunities. billion inthat $40 economic growth can go to asian even -- infrastructure through china backed banks. that china wants to

build a regional order that is more beneficial to asia and the world. -- this isittle quite radical because china traditionally has kept its hands out of that there is outside its borders, taking care of things at home. now they clearly want to step lead inthe borders, to this area. he also took the opportunity to address concerns about china's attitude to foreign business and talk about anti-monopoly cases against foreign -- business here. always become more open in our policies in foreign investment will not change. the protection of the legal rights of foreign invested enterprises will remain tohanged, and efforts provide better services to foreign investors will also remain unchanged. a very wide ranging

topics addressed. we saw many top names in ceo's attend. is thatall message there are challenges away ahead, but we can handle it. it is in all of your interest to follow us. angie: it really sounded like a reassertion -- reassurance of foreign investors. china was also trying to include their currency in the ims basket. how does it all fit in? reporter: it fits in with the whole idea that they want to move out and move into a more global arena. yuanou can't move the freely between orders. zhou promised that that would change this year. we are probably going to see more of that very soon. angie: christina line out of

beijing. thank you. forumore to come from the , including an exclusive interview with fortis few metals , find out what he has to say in the iron ore industry. first, the prime minister of greece will brief parliament today about progress, or not, from his weekend talks with creditors. the pressure is mounting. time and cash is running out. john dawson is here with the latest. reporter: first of all, the very defensive of greece not needing the euro. what has been said, the idea is that the planned reforms would bring in $3.3 billion. of extra revenue. also, creditors have agreed to disk -- extend programs until

june. return, they'll be tax compliant and greece has agreed to increase cigarettes and alcohol tax, and privatizing assets. he will update people again today, monday. there are speaking at the nfc in london about the fact that greece will not leave the euro because it would be far too contagious and damaging for the rest of the european parts. the ecb council governing member. is not an option for greece, for the reason that the competitive next of the great economy has stalled over the past five years through in turn

are they lesion and reforms in the labor market. hence, this was delivering no benefit, but a lot of pain. reporter: he's been it implies huge costs and also --. theneece were to leave, spain and portugal, might say hang on. angie: another downgrade. reporter: it is brutal. now seven levels below investment grade. that is the big concern. new bailoutt the reform is not good for the government confidence. on april the first, senior officials will be having a

teleconference with international creditors about greece, and the crucial and here is april 9. the imf debt repayment is due. paint or problem. pay it or problem. the new,. -- problem. angie: thank you john. a quick snapshot of the markets. a rally in arab stocks. the saudi led a bombing campaign with restore stability in yemen. oil continuing to fall after 5% plunge on friday. this is on speculation that the airstrikes in yemen don't pose a threat to ample global supplies. down 7/10 of 1%. the aussie dollar is trading at

77 u.s. cents. the opens in japan and korea -- in japan, less than 51 minutes. down friday. pointing to a higher open today. the dollar yen right now is weakening. 119 .22 to the u.s. dollar. shoppers cashing in on designer handbags. product plans to open fewer stores and introduce cheaper prada plans to open fewer stores and introduce cheaper bags. there is a charm campaign to attract chinese advertisers. says the company -- the wall

street journal says based that is hiring in china. mark zuckerberg has been trying to raise facebook profile by meeting executives. facebook, twitter, and other social media services are banned in china. election campaign gets underway later today when prime minister david cameron visits the queen. -- pollingday is date is may 7. labor leader ed miliband will make his pitch for big business today at bloomberg's european headquarters. he says labor remains committed to keeping the u.k. in the european union. bloomberg television will have complete coverage of the u.k. election. we begin special programming this afternoon with an extended forion of "the pulse," those of you watching. been an emotional

farewell to its founding father, lee kuan yew. tousands lined the streets say goodbye. a difficult day for singapore. a difficult day, emotional day. it was a fitting final farewell for the founding father of modern singapore. the first prime minister of the country. despite torrential rain, hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets to say their final goodbye. people draped themselves with the national flag. they carried the national flags in hand. despite the rain, they were chanting his name. they were thinking that man. the man. -- thanking many times people recited the

national anthem. it was a very emotional day. singaporeans are known as being unemotional, but yesterday was one occasion where they were not afraid to show emotions. and a utility by the prime saidter, also his son, he the nation has lost a father. he says that we mourn as a nation, as one people. >> lettuce shape this island nation into one of the great deep in the world. reflecting the ideas he stood for. realizing the dreams he inspired. and worthy of the people who have made singapore home and nation. the state funeral yesterday marks the end of the seven-day mourning. the procession went through significant landmarks, including the trade union house and the

parliament house. it also went through his constituency. people feeling a huge loss for the country. an emotional day. one, one emotional that the international community since it's hard out to the people of singapore. where does singapore go now? well, the country moves on. remember that he stepped down from politics back in 2011 after the ruling people party lost via slim majority. that's my attorney. face high living costs. we have heard from the government that it is trying to rectify the problems of the country. have to help -- hold

an election by 2017. angie: coming up, for disease scue's chairmante on what is in australia's national interest. ♪

angie: welcome back. checking stories making headlines around the world. the iran nuclear talks resume this morning with each site saying the other must make tough choices. the end of the month is the deadline for a agreement. go some way during lifting economic isolation. israel has expressed serious concerns. it confirms all its worst fears. thousands of people marched through tunis and protests that

the extremist to go 23 people 10 days ago. most of the victims were foreign tourists. the demonstrators were joined by several world leaders including the french president. security forces say they have attacked the group behind the rate and has killed the leader. a new crew has arrived at the international space station. they will spend 342 days in the twice as long as normal. this is nasa's first attempt for a one-year mission. mark kelly's identical -- kelly's identical twin will carry out the same experiment on earth to see how his body compares with his genetic double in orbit. 's chairman is defending his call to limit iron ore to boost prices.

it is described as nonsense. but he says companies need to act responsibly. he spoke to stephen engle at the forum in china. the outcry really missed the elephant in the room. i would like people to start thinking about that now. it is an international interest here. china's national interest and australia's is not helped by companies dumping iron ore into a falling market. there here to husband assets. we don't actually own the iron ore. we are here to process it as best we can for the people of australia. we did not expect to spend tens of billions of dollars in a collapsing commodity pricing environment. that would not be good for australia and we would not do it. it would not be good for china. china needs a stable supply and as diversified supply.

they don't want concentrated supply. that is one-on-one economic rule. have diversified supply. that way you get a fair game. reporter: i know you do not wish to respond to the direct comments from competitors. i just want to ask you point blank, those unnamed competitors , kind of indicate that they think you are in trouble. fortescue is in trouble. how much trouble? >> i have been hearing that since i started the company from the same unnamed competitors. it is like a broken record. they wish we never found 16 million tons of iron ore. they wish we never built the world's connected lines and platforms. they wish we didn't have customers all over asia 11. support is -- who love us and

support us. we hear that many times. gets stronger every time we get criticized. we are in good shape. reporter: you build your company on debt, not equity, at a time when iron ore prices were going and rates were low. it is the opposite environment now. part of that is true. we have about 7.5 alien debt -- billion debt on a $20 billion share. greatt think it is a deal, i think it is manageable. when iron ore prices were strong and rising, even though we were late starters, we started out expansion early. and we finished a very early.

and we have watched others playing catch-up. but of course into a collapsing commodity price. this a strategy to force everyone else out? is it a strategy to get prices to return? we struggle with that. we have a significant platform. forcing the price down by our own behavior would not be smart. you have leadership in the oil industry and one of the largest companies in the world -- that guy was asked, what are you doing? to'm not going continue expanding. we are going to be very disciplined about production now. we will not expand and certainly

will not spend money. that is the oil industry. they are behaving responsibly. fortescue will behave responsibly. angie: up next, jamie oliver versus junk food. ♪

-- chefelebrity seth jamie oliver says he will introduce new foods.

he is promoting better food education for children. reporter: i'm here outside the sydney opera house with jamie oliver. jamie: it is very visual. reporter: today is the food revelation dave. -- revolution day. tell us about that. go on many years will before we keep watching everything get worse. last year more people died of diet related disease than famine and hunger. it being a child's human rights to have access to practical food education in school. that's it. food revolution day, last year we had 1.4 billion impressions on twitter. i know people care. reporter: i could argue that the

g-20 also cares. one thing i have noticed, there is a big golf to agreeing something is a good idea and actually doing something about it. >> i maintain managing because he just have to be patient. you have to be relentless. yourter: to let extent do find that your business complements this? think we have all sorts of different platforms. i do think money is required i think the tax in britain ferry in my opinion. health?good for public and do we need that money? yes. i'm talking about taxing my own businesses on soda as well. reporter: have you introduced the tax yet? >> i'm trying to structure at

the moment and i'm trying to work out how i'm going to implement it in the u.k. but also internationally. but it will happen. and it will happen until the government does it for us. approaching other restaurant groups to do the same. i know businesses run by chefs will agree to it because we all believe in kids and cooking and the importance of it. remember that most businesses are not run by cooks are growers. numbers mean a lot here it --. so they won't want it. angie: up next, china slowdown angie: up next, china slowdown hits handb

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fuzzy eyes after hong its stocks.p beaten byd got australia in the cricket world cup. australia defeating cohost new zealand. we are 30 minutes away from the open of trading in japan and south korea. you are watching "first up". growth worries.

here china's concerns that the slowdown has gone too far. releasing a. grief finalizes -- grief finalizes reforms that could get them a $3 billion helping hand. and singapore says goodbye to lee kuan yew. stocks area, where extending losses. 1% down. the aussie dollar is that 77 u.s. cents. also seeingnd, losses. the first trading day of the week. new zealand dollars spot is at 75 u.s. cents. it is continuing its weakening phase. we are also counting down to the open in japan and korea, less than half an hour. in japan, this was the view

friday. 1% down. chicago futures are pointing to a higher open for japan today. weakening,right now 119.26. over to australia now, finalizing its plans to join china back asian infrastructure investment bank. paul allen is in sydney. is this a done deal? itorter: it seems that pretty much is. australia is ready to sign a memorandum. there are just a few issues to work through. that have to do it the government's here it they want to make sure they board of the key decisions. and also that no one country comes to dominate the bank. they are confident joining the bank is the right thing for australia. part of ato be

multicultural bank that will provide millions in loans the region. the former prime minister is in their region for the mormon for the forum. -- moment for the forum. hand in theeaning sales job for this bank. i from the very beginning, have supported it. the reason is, asia has a massive infrastructure development need. secondly, we have a shortage of global capital. thirdly, the real challenge is to use global public capital with us in the adb, and get leverage. and finally it is good for global growth. it is fairly flat at the moment. angie: of course the united states is no fan of this china led initiative. a lot of criticism. what is the us really government saying about u.s. skepticism --

the australian government saying? reporter: of course the u.s. is australia's closest friend, but china is the country's latest trading partner. the situation didn't get a lot easier for australia when britain signed it. the treasurer believes the u.s. will eventually come around and joined the bank as well, saying it will take a bit of time. sachsrmer head of goldman asset management, jim o'neill, is much less charitable with his opinion. highlight the status. all it really does is make it clear that it is now four years since the u.s. has gratified what it was supposed be an agreement to give china more power and weight in the imf. some of my old house in the treasury are embarrassed by it as they should be.

is no doubt that the bank does a road u.s. influence in this region. the u.s. influence in this region. even the adb has pledged corporation to this new asia infrastructure investment bank. the u.s. does run the risk of either getting on board are being left behind. angie: thank you so much for that. a slowdown in china has hurt earnings. brand aht the luxury 28% following last year. let's bring in iran. -- yvonne. reporter: there is a major overhaul. we may not see the effect until next year. they said last year was much more complicated than they expected for prada.

ofy were missing estimates $509 million sales. they talked about slow growth and increasing cost really hurting product margins. they said currency fluctuations, the week euro, had a negative impact on sales for a significant portion of the year. but they also saw positive contributions and sales recovered in the last few months. they did see them growth in --an and the u.s., but the decreases in europe and the rest of asia. macau also playing a factor as well. fewer chinese shoppers as well as weaker tourist spending as well as less demand. few yearsshort as a

ago i remember walking into the stores and watching mainline shoppers point to the wall and buy one of each. those days are gone. hremes,- experiencing this as well. yvonne: they say they did not react fast enough to changing consumer behaviors. particularly with christ. they say it was too expensive and it led shoppers to go somewhere else. in terms of long-term, they believe in the appeal of prada. they mentioned they expect a re-acceleration in same-store growth for the company. they say that turnaround of the miu brand could be the

factor. angie: thank you for that. time for a look at corporate stories making headlines. the premier pushes the skills and growth of china's railway industry. indians now cut interest rates twice this year but it may not be good. to resolve this, they are urging the central bank. even half percent point cut would free up billions of dollars. cyberons on it ongoing attack on a popular u.s. coding website.

traffic is redirected from other side causing delete service. wall street journal reports the attack may have started in china and targeted to give top -- g ifthub and other sites banned in beijing. angie: there is a magic number , anything or breaks about this number virtually means you can kick -- kiss your dreams of going public goodbye. david is here with that crucial number. we are talking 23. or what wenofficial, have noticed so far, as the cap i wish a lot of these companies in china go public. there is no official announcement from regulators that you can't press your ipo about this.

ipos over the past year, anyone who has tried to price it over 23 times earnings does not get the approval. and regulators to go ahead with the listing. it is fairly clear. look at this graphic. that is the magic number. between 22-23 times, more than half of the hundred 50 companies that have gone public are here. worth theircian salt can take a look at this and you would know that the numbers don't do this. in don't see this statistics. what you see is a normal distribution. a bell shaped curve. when this happens, and then you almost have none, it makes you scratch your head. angie: statistically that is a

big clue. reporter: it is impossible for this to be natural. i think there are only two companies that have managed to get approval and list above this 23 number. and they did not get far. i will give the names, but the 23.2.t one was the only -- the other one was 23.01. if you press it to keep then you shortchange the client. if you present to high, you don't leave money for investors. this seems to be the norm. not comment.d angie: in china, it is regulars that either approve the ipo or not your --. reporter: i think this actually started last year. they had started to tighten their -- ipos because they notice companies prices very

high. when it hit the market, the ipos did not do very well. angie: give us some examples. there are three here. a great story. , nothing inies common with the exception that they are chinese. cinemat airline, a operator, and a company that makes chicken wings. 22.96.them priced at they did not go all the way. not at 22.99. same exact multiple. i'm just saying, this is the data. angie: numbers don't lie. reporter: right. for pointingyou

that out. yewl to come, as lee kuan is linked to west, what is next for singapore? ♪

angie: checking other stories making headlines. new york police say a second body has been found in the rubble of a manhattan building that collapsed after an apparent gas explosion. both victims were reportedly innate ground-floor sushi restaurant at the time. mayor bill de blasio says someone may have illegally tapped a glass line -- gas line before the explosion which left 22 people hurt. they had identified dna from 78 of the people killed in last week's plane crash. was suffering from a

psychosomatic illness. a doctors note that would have excused him from flying was found torn up in his apartment. prosecutors say he deliberately clashed -- crashed the plane after locking the pilot out. singapore has paid an emotional farewell to it finding father. thousands of mourners gathered he was taken and by gun carriers to the funeral service. in attendance were the india -- indonesia prime minister as well as former president printing. -- bill clinton. has been a dark week for singapore. the light that has guided us all the years has been english -- extinguished. our founding father, who lived and breathed singapore all his life. angie: let's go over to

singapore. it wasn't just singapore that mourned his loss, but also the rest of the world. former u.s. secretary of state henry kissinger was also a friend. he says that the world is a better place because of him. the former secretary-general of the association of southeast asian nations was there. the outpouring was unexpected. i am personally surprised by the large amount of outpouring. what i guess people you wish to express their appreciation. i think this is very good, an type ofon of the

singapore identity that we are hoping to instill a all the people. reporter: india announced a national mourning day yesterday. flew a flag at half mast. why would they do that? an expression of friendship to singapore and also to show their appreciation for lee kuan yew. reporter: what impact did he have on these nations? >>'s ideas, the concept of opening up the economy, and looking to the reader. in india, singapore and indian leaders have opening up the economy for a long time. imagine, you have ups and downs sometimes. again, constantly his idea of looking at the world and seeing

it how it is in the future must have resonated with indian leaders. in the case of new zealand, it is a country that is very small. i guess his idea of looking at asia as the future for new zealand, and the linkage between -- zealand and for singapore, so his idea of opening it up. reporter: some people ask, where does singapore go from here? >> personally, i think we have the economy and we demonstrated our emotional and sentimental part. the circle is completed. a mature nation, i would they. -- say. now we just have to consolidate. we cannot do everything. but i think what mr. lee has that if we put our

minds and heart into it, we can deliver something quite different. i personally believe that we are very stabilized. now we need to just improve some andhese public policies some activities around the country, as well as outside in the region. i think things will be good. is this the right time for the government to call for an election? >> this is the 50th anniversary year. most singaporeans just want to celebrate. what happened in the last week is to demonstrate their personal appreciation of one great man. intoer that translates support for government policy, that remains to be debated.

don't think in the minds of singaporeans, it would be appropriate, soon after his passing, launching into election campaigns. we have so many activities planned for the 50th anniversary. i think personally i would be very surprised if this is used preparationad for for the next election. mr. lee is singapore. is mr.re and many ways lee. you cannot really -- i think the probably be something which the prime minister and his cabinet members have to decide. the school, as you can see, the senate is coming up behind me. nothing like the torrential rain we saw yesterday. people did not mind the rain.

they got drenched to the skin to pay their respects to the founding father of modern singapore. angie: that is haslinda out of singapore. breaking news from japan. industrial production for the month of february fell 3.4%. they were expecting a fall of 1.9%. int is down from a 3.7% gain january. that compares to a median forecast of 0.6% to the downside. ahead, japan open in just a few minutes. let's see how this could play out. features and singapore pointing to a higher open. the dollar-yen not moving much three.point residents near a japanese note factory have been evacuated. we will find out what happens when "first up" returns. ♪

the stockcome to exchange. we take a look at the opening of japan and south korea. developer,game expecting some announcements today. reporter: friday they said they would be cutting jobs. they also are planning to sell browser game assets to another company. they expect to book again gain on the sale, they won't say how much. the stock last month, going down to 35%. this is after they posted earnings. a net loss of $1.9 million. after that, see what happens.

reporter: make milk. a leak from a hook i don't hokkaido factory was discovered. evacuations but were taking place. angie: how does nitric acid get into a milk factory? reporter: one of the pipes leak. and then it came out. .t might affect the brand wh absolutely, food and quality. very important in japan here it thank you guys. that is the verdict from south exchange. in one hour. looking at the next hour, the

show has earnings growth closing in the u.s.. are there better opportunities elsewhere? also we are counting down opens up japan and korea. this

stimulating talk. it more action expected as china's slowdown has gone too far. that slowdown is having a wider effect. full-year profit falling 28%. a final farewell. singapore says goodbye to leak lee kuan yew. i'm angie lau coming to you live from our asian headquarters. we are wrapping up the month.

two days to go till the end of march. we have australia. it is extending losses this morning, 1.21% down. aussie dollar trading lower. japan is just opening. 225 -- nikkei 235 is opening higher. against the19.25 u.s. dollar. it shows that japanese manufacturers are starting the year on a down note. in korea, just getting underway as well. it is gaining right now. korean won is also weakening --ngside the data needs japanese yen. over to china now, central bank governor saying that the growth in the world's second-largest economy has slowed a little bit

too much for his liking. the overall message and the chinese president as well, is that china has the tools to deal with it. they spoke at a forum for asia over the weekend. christine has more from beijing. he always has his own session of the forum. this is his 13th year. he said china's growth rate has fallen a little bit too much for his liking. he did warn of disinflation trend in china. he said inflation is declining. we need to be a challenge to see if that trend will continue and if deflation will happen. patients with needed to say -- to see if china has steps that were already taken are working. manyfits in many -- with expectations that there will be bench rate cuts. results.em preliminary

we also came in lower than estimated. leicester, china size lowest rate of growth is 1990. while the central plank keeps saying there -- central-bank keeps saying they are -- they also want to hit a 7% growth target. anything far below that will hit confidence and wages. that is something the government has been very clear in saying they will not tolerate. spoke ate president the forum as well but he delivered a more rousing message didn't he? reporter: he did. his speech really focused more on what china can do for the region. despite slowing growth, he talked about the $40 billion

value, the asian infrastructure investment, construction in the larger asian region. of the major economies, only the u.s. and japan are staying out of this. this has real momentum. they argue that what will benefit china will anything other countries. big lead in the financing initiatives for both projects. china has really stepping up to take a leadership role in the region. this is that a time when it is seeking to include its currency in the imf basket. it all ties together in the big picture. they also took the opportunity to address china's stance on foreign companies. >> people are afraid that china no longer needs foreign

investments because china has become the largest overseas investor itself. others say that china is stepping up anti-monopoly measures as protectionism. these are one-sided understandings. the message here is that this is very much a two-way street. we welcome you and invest, and in return we will invest in you. this will benefit everyone. angie: indeed. christine out of aging. a slowdown in china has heard earnings at prada. 28%luxury brand hosted a fall in china last year. prada says it has a major overhaul going on. yes, internal production processes going into effect but

it may not be visible until next year. they say in terms of the year last year, more complicated than expected. million which missed estimates of $509 million. they talk about slowdown and growth, increasing cost, really hitting the operating margins as well as for acts being blamed. currency fluctuations and the weak euro. positives they made a contribution and help sales recover for the later part of the year. in terms of growth they saw positive signs from japan and the u.s., but decreases for europe and the rest of asia. this is remarkable because luxury sales dropped 14% last year in hong kong. the first drop since 2003.

the market there as well as in comes intochinese play as well. we are seeing a different changing consumer behavior as well. parallel traders buying more useful things like powder in shantou versus a $3000 handbag. weaker domestic demand as well as leicester is him. weaker demand. at least for now, they say they have not reacted fast enough to changes, particularly around price. not much novelty and it has let shoppers to go elsewhere. also in terms of long-term stock, they still see the appeal of the product brand overall. they do expect a reacceleration in store. growth is ace deciding factor.

they also want to revamp their miu miu brand for lower-priced handbags. business, it the also has its fall lines and seasons. maybe lackluster there. chanel also had to cut production in asia because of the week euro. we will have to see if there are changes. angie: breaking news. magnitude 7.6 earthquake hitting in -- off of pop a new cleaning. -- papua new guinea. reports of an earthquake. measuring 7.6. as no doubtere those headlines will continue as to what the ripple effect will be.

in other news, five and a half billion dollar expansion of copper and gold mine in mongolia still hangs by a thread. ceo sam lost say only a few issues remain unresolved. says taxesgovernment and cost overruns is a priority. when finished it will continue -- contribute a third of mongolia's economy. mercedes-benz is pushing the limits for market share with lance to develop midsized pickup trucks by 2020. talks with nissan i said to be in the advanced stages. this would be based on nissan pickup trucks. onse 80's wilfork's sales europe, latin america, australia, and south america.

today prime minister david cameron visits the queen to seek the dissolution of parliament. polling days in may. will leader ed miliband make his pitch for the business vote today in a speech in london. remains committed to keeping the u.k. in the european union. bloomberg television will have complete coverage of the u.k. election. we will begin special programming this afternoon with an extended version of "the pulse." has made an emotional farewell to it founding father l lee kuan yew. houses lined the streets to say goodbye to a man who dominated politics for decades. a emotional day for singapore. oforter: the display

emotions went beyond anyone's expectations. the tribute was apt. and a flyover, the country's highest honor. despite torrential rain, people lined the streets hours before the procession started. many came in black and white, mourning colors. they draped themselves in the national flag. touchinga really display was the patriotism. people sang the national anthem and wrapped the national flag around. they chanted his name. they were thanking him for his contribution. fromis a country that went that backwater into one of the most successful, if not the most successful, and all of southeast asia. eulogy by hisa

son, he said the country mourns the loss of a father. he is seen as the father of the country and we grieve as one nation. >> lattice shaped his island nation into one of the great cities in the world. reflecting the ideas he stood for. realizing the dream he inspired. and worthy of the people have made singapore a home and nation. the state funeral yesterday marks the end of a seven-day mourning. more than one million people pay tribute. people -- 450,000 people spent as many as 10 hours lining up to pay last respects when his body was in parliament house. the country's mourning the loss of the founding father of singapore. it has been not only

exponential growth, it has been exceptional growth for singapore started thisan yew nation. what of the future now? many people feel that the future is bright. it is a stable country. he left a legacy of a clean government. he left the policy of growth based on not just manufacturing but tourism. remember, this is a very high-tech country as well. the faith a lot of challenges nonetheless. people increasingly vocal politically. they want a bigger say in how the country is run. there is also a growing gap between the rich and poor. a challenge based not just by singapore but many countries. the government will have to address such issues as they face

elections, which need to be held by 2017. the last elections, the ruling people's action party won by a slim majority. lots of challenges ahead. people say that support shown by this is amanda found it singapore, but there is a difference between that and policies implemented by the government. angie: thank you. much. up, a bit too china's central bank chief is his view of the slowdown after the break. you are watching "first up". ♪

angie: breaking news. you about, oftold a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hitting off of poppel and new guinea. -- poppel and new guinea.

7.7 magnitude. we will be watching for any reports of tsunami. no doubt there is that island of high alert. checking other stories making headlines around the world. frantic teams had identified dna from 78 of the 150 people killed in last week's german wings crash. copilot wass a suffering from a psychosomatic illness. a doctors note that would have excused him from flying was found torn up in his apartment. prosecutors say that he deliberately crashed the plane after locking the pilot out of the cockpit. in iran nuclear talks resume his son this morning with each side they the other must make tough choices. the end of the month is the

deadline for framework agreement that would limit iran's ability to make an atomic bomb. israel has expressed serious concerns about an impending deal, saying it confirms its worst fears. new crew has arrived at the international space station for a year-long mission. they will spend 342 days in the iss, about twice as long as normal. it is nasa's first attempt at a one-year mission. scott kelly's identical twin market will carry out the same medical experiments on earth to see how his body compares with his genetic double in orbit. we are watching markets in japan , after it fell more than expected today. industrial production tumbled 3.4%. quick check of the japanese yen

right now. it is looking like this. 119.23.ng to weaken, after thek, that is data was released. bring in equity strategist jason lowe to help us i just these figures and what markets are going to do with the figures today. it looks like japanese manufacturers are having a tough start to the year. worse than expected. how do you think it will play out? reporter: if you look at the data from japan coming out, it was worse than expected. recently you have yours api numbers, as well coming in at 0%. meeting, he

mentioned that there is still need for additional at this point in time, but perhaps that could be an option later on. looking at the japanese economy, it is still recovering slowly. at 0%, there could be a need for boj to revise the target 2% inflation further down the road. angie: that is exactly what they had expressed. of course we will have the survey coming out in a couple of days from now. that is also a very important barometer as to how manufacturers are feeling. but this is not good for a nation that has had abenomics for a couple of years now. reporter: right. situation where

japan is trying to stimulate the economy, i think patience is needed for the recovery. further yen weakness in the dollar yen. -- by dollar-yen about the end of the fourth quarter. at this point in time, a weaker yen would actually boost profit earnings in japan. corporate earnings have actually been surprisingly of said -- upside. angie: are you positive on china? reporter: am i worried about china? of course the recent data has been worse than expected.

-- numbers came in blue below expectations. of course, over the weekend, in the meeting, they said that we could expect more. there could be more fiscal easing over the course of the year. that would be good for equity markets in china. they remain relatively attractive. what are you looking for exactly for growth in china? reporter: we are still looking for% gdp growth for china 2015. that is the adjustment dollars from 2014. -- downwards from 2014. for evaluation, trading at about 14 times forward.

still below the historical average of 16. we still continue to be positive both on the a and other shares. , perhapse for investor keep shares would be a better play coming from a value point of view. angie: good news for us here in hong kong for the equity markets. thank you for joining us. coming up next, the prime minister of greece due to update lawmakers on top between greek government officials and creditors. you are watching "first up". ♪

reporter: i'm david in hong kong. positive news. u.s. futures the trading commission. the euro is sort, to -- shooting it will sharply back up to 109 and we are just below the level right now. the latest in greece. pras to meet lawmakers today

and will engage in a meaningful talks between creditors. the finance minister outlined a proposed budget that assumed a one and a half point surplus for the budget. of 1.4% growth according to the government officials. wrapping things up in japan. miss in an industrial production. fell almost double what economists were expecting. drop from the previous year. immediately after that we saw a spike in the dollar yen. a stronger u.s. dollar at this point.

>> it is 8:30 here in hong kong. that is a live look of the bustling city that is. the open ofr from trading. you are watching first up. ♪ room to move. china's central bank bath in central-bank head talks about stimulus.

and the latest stops in brussels. farewell to the founding father. 100,000 singaporeans join world leaders for the funeral of lee kuan yew. the prime minister of greece will brief parliament today about the progress or not. from his weekend talks with the country's creditors. this comes as fitch downgrade great that even further. the pressure is -- downgrades greek debt even further. the pressure is counting. john: another week, another drama. we don't know if the creditors agreed to extend the bailout until june. .hey get the commitment also, they will increase duties on cigarettes and alcohol, crack

privatizevoidance and of the asset. .hat is in the works they will bring in these reforms , $3.3 billion in your revenue. pay off extrahem debts. had the bank of greece governor and one of the ecb council members making it clear greece will not leave, because of contagion issues. , italy,e would leave spain, and portugal may say, this work, and follow suit. that's the end of the euro. here it is talking about how greece is going to a in the euro. -- stay in the euro. an exit is not an option.

the competitiveness of the greek economy has now been restored through internal evaluation and reforms in the labor market and lessen the product markets. rexit would deliver no benefit but a lot of pain. line is if they cannot pay the debt they have to leave. but i guess it doesn't help that fitch downgraded greek that. john: greece is now seven levels below invest it grade. fitch cut them by two levels and citing extreme pressure on government funding, lack of, and the uncertainty of the bailout reforms. i mentioned a few of them. that is a concern. 1 the teleconference,

senior officials are bad. is up onebt repayment april 9 of $500 million. they must pay it or go back to square one. >> they might get there still. let's check on the markets quickly. this is the view right now. thebing despite disappointing industrial production figure coming out for japan. cost be is ready much flat, -- kospi is pretty much flat. austria is extending losses as our. austria is idolizing plants to the asian infrastructure investment bank. paul, is australia's commitment to this done deal now? it pretty much is.

it's hard to see them backing away from this. the country is getting ready to sign a memorandum of understanding. there are talks about a few minors again points regarding governance. to assurement wants they have any authority. also no country has dominant decision-making. joining ther says asia infrastructure bank makes sense for australia. he says they are right to be part of the bank that is going to provide billions inland to the region. the former prime minister has a new role at the head of the independent commission on multilateralism. he is leaning a hand to the sales job. beginning i have supported it.

the reason is asia has a massive infrastructure development need. secondly, we have a shortage of global capital needed to investigate. the real challenge is use global public capital and leverage it with private capital against -- and get some of these project going. that is good for global growth. global growth is fairly flat at the moment. a very important ally. the united states no fan of this china led initiative. what is the australian government weighing about this about the -- saying skepticism? park that has been a balancing act. the united tape is one of the biggest friends and allies. on the other hand you have china being one of the most important trading partners. the decision got a lot easier once britain got on board. the treasurer things it's a matter of time before the united

states has a change of heart. -- thinks it's a matter of time before the united date has a change of heart. the u.s. is getting back into a corner over this. even the asian development bank signed a pledge of cooperation, so there is really a choice for the united date to join or get left behind. angie: paul allen, thanks for that. time for a look at corporate stories taking headlines. yvonne.even on -- yvonne: a six point 6% increase in profit. they surprise to reveal that income rose to $9.7 billion last your. the result of a product cutting oil andon cost for increasing output. of 15 euros a

share, but the stock has risen since the news became public. suggesting investors and a better deal may come. the chairman said maybe. they need an asia partner. facebook is looking to add more friends in china. they are waging a charm campaign to attract chinese advertisers. the company is hiring in hong kong and has us to get local partner. mark zuckerberg has trying to raise facebook profile by meeting executives and regulators. facebook and other services are currently banned in china. there is a magic number that makes or breaks ipos in china. anything above this number virtually means you can kiss your chance of going public goodbye.

david is here with what we are talking about. david: 23. that's a magic number above which companies that want to go public -- their application will ipodenied if they price the above this multiple of 23. so far, we have seen a lot of these companies that want to take advantage of this massive composite,e shanghai and it is up over 81%. >> it has been an exceptional rally. david: a lot of it has been towards the backend. the companies that tried to be above 23 got denied. when you look at the numbers, more than half of the 147 companies that went public last 23r price between 22 and

percent earnings. that seems to be the norm or at least a little below that. we were talking about this earlier. normally follow that curve. it's usually a bell shaped. -- shape. they don't do this unless there is an invisible hand that guide it. angie: i don't think that's what adams myth had in mind. smith had in mind. david: he would be disappointed to see it in a not so efficient way. how do you value an ipo? if you price it too low, you are shortchanging your clients.

early last year authorities darted to tighten on ipos. you had a lot of companies rising them quite high. 23. >> to say the statistical collaboration would be an understatement. .ive us some examples do they have anything in common? we have three examples. companies that have nothing in common other than the fact they are chinese. cinema, withes, the maker of chicken wings. shandong chicken wings. angie: i love chicken wings. david: all of these stocks

surge. they hit the magic number of -- 22.96. david: we don't know why. it's more than the actual number. i guess when the doorman who is in charge of opening the door for your ipo to go through prove that is a magic number. david: we will never know. angie: thanks. they confirmed the impressive credentials by winning the seventh here in hong kong. they thrashed new zealand. the third triumph in four years. now have now moved -- they move on to tokyo next weekend. meanwhile, ferrari are on the

right track i winning the malaysian -- by winning the malaysian grand prix. winningat mercedes' streak. since their first win spanish grand prix in 2013. russia was one of the building blocks of the bric, but is it time for a change? we will hear from the man who coined the term next. ♪

angie: new york police say a second body has been found in the rubble of a body. both victims reportedly in a ground-floor sushi rest drowned. mayor bill de blasio said that one may have a legally cap the gap in before and asked illusion

-- an explosion. thousands of people have marched through a protest. most of the victims were foreign tourists, and the demonstrators were joined by several world leaders including french president francois hollande. french security forces say they attacked a group said to be behind the rape. -- killings. and thousands of mourners. .he crowd other in heavy rain in attendance were the indonesian president and the prime ministers of india, japan, thailand, and australia, as well as bill clinton. but this has been a dark week for singapore.

the light that guided us all these years has been extinguished. we have lost our founding father, mr. lee kuan yew, who lived and breathed singapore all his life. termhe man who coined the for the brick nations says it may be time to think about removing russia. interview, he said he imf add to the basket. i think it is for obvious reasons. represents thet ongoing aspect of what has been happening for the past many particularly the huge important in world trade they --

world trade. i don't think we should have seen so dismissed as in 2010. i think it is going to take the -- to do it. at the moment i am assuming it owing to happen. quite what would it mean to the value of the renminbi? >> i'm not sure. think the weakness going to be temporary. i think it is part and parcel of up, andp, -- growing the chinese are trying to deliberately introduce more volatility. these days when people ask about the euro i say it's going to go up and down.

>> a year ago you said short the euro. you made the right call. >> i am kicking myself. i know why i am not using other people's money. i almost not the day. i was feeling cocky with myself area -- myself. i am not going to be uncle george soros. i kind of got it right. i'm not convinced it's going to fall that much in the future. i was amongst those that was not in the slightest bit surprised at the of it statement -- the vicious statement. ement.ish stat

>> greece. how much longer will it need? ?- be but these guys are playing a big game. my guess is someone is going to blink. that's russia. a lot has happened. i am wondering about this guy. getting e-mails for the past weeks or seven years, saying when are you going to leave, and now i feel like an idiot. russia has put itself in an even bigger corner. largest company

sees the gas pipelines built. the chairman envisions china becoming as much as 25% of sales up from 5% right now. has a looking years before sanctions. actually, russia sees china as an important trade partner and an important market. the current development push russia towards china. details,of important and today's top stories am a you -- topd them right here stories, you can find them right here on bloomberg. all you have to do is download it to your mobile device.

near a milkation factories lowered investors taste? we will take a look after this short break. ♪

angie: there is some speculation something may be happening. they are going to be selling some game asset. it doesn't give the amount, but they are going to talk about the impact.

>> climbing despite a massive leak. >> that would he the leak into the factories. shares are falling on friday. you can see relief it has affected the product. >> nitric acid has been used to remove from food and milk. they use it to clean the pipes. john: a relief. thanks for that. that's the verdict from the stock exchange. ♪

we are almost done. what are we looking at? >> saying that china's growth a bit toomuch and sharply. we are going to see what that means for the chinese economy. when you see the chinese economy slowing, who gets hit? 28% drop. to introduceg cheaper bags. funeral was's yesterday, so we will have the latest. we will be talking about his he.

-- legacy. >> an incredible like a he. .- legacy what a remarkable growth area we will stay tuned for that. thank you for joining us today. ♪

practice monday, the 30th of march. i am shery ahn. this is trending business. we will be live in singapore and beijing this hour, but first we production fell almost twice as much last month. moore's realist to come in china. the governor says he's ill has room to act.