Asian markets are mixed following Friday's declines on Wall Street as we enter the final week of the year a turbulent year for Boeing as another crash kills 179 passengers in South Korea and we look at why Tech Giants are turning to nuclear energy to power their AI driven data centers hello I'm taba Iden with the latest business and finance news here on CRT world [Music] It's the final trading week of the year with Asian markets mixed following declines on Wall Street on Friday South Korea's Cosby Rose 0. 9% while the kak added 1. 74% on Monday despite the country grappling with political turmoil and downbeat Industrial data among other things over in Japan the nk225 fell 0.
82% while the topics was down 0. 3% that's as Factory activity contracted at a slower rate in December with the manufacturing PMI climbing to 49. 6 up from November's reading of 49 but still below the 50 threshold that separates growth from expansion meanwhile Hong Kong's uh hangsang index Rose 0.
15% while mainland China CSI 300 climbed 0. 53% Traders await China's manufacturing PMI on Tuesday and and US Stocks fell on Friday led by technology shares but major indices still Rose for the week on track for the best year since 2021 let's get more on this now with Naim Asam he's Chief investment officer at Z Capital markets good to have you back uh with us Naim now usually this time of year we have what we call a Santa Claus rally given the declines on woot on Friday can we expect to see it happen this time sure thanks for having me as always I think this particular time things are slightly bit more different for two particular reasons number one is the substantial gains that we are looking at in terms of your quarterly gains in I mean for instance if you look at quarterly gains for Nasdaq uh we are looking at a record gains going back to since 2021 and if you're looking at the yearly gains for the three major US Stock Industries the S&P 500 the dajon industrial average and of course the NASDAQ we can see that we are still sitting on a very very double digit handsome gains for all the three major indices so it is very natural for investors and Traders to take profit given the gains that we have seen and secondly uh and more importantly of course we have we will have a new US president going into the office so I think investors wants to re-calibrate things uh going into 2025 and at the same time there's this Spirit of holidays among a lot of investors which is keeping the volume in the market on the low side as well so to answer your questions can we see further rally into the market I think the chances are a little bit slim but we could see a small gradual move to the upside but with a major Rally or the major Trend we will only see it going into January 2025 all right and looking at Japan now Factory activity is still below that Mark separating growth from contraction what's happening on that front yeah t you were absolutely correct in uh pointing that out with the the separation of contraction and where at an expansion the the the important level of 50 I think Japan is still we have the same issues uh which we've experienced in the previous quarters and that is the central bank's policy the by boj's policy in relation to its monetary policy and how the bank is really trying to T inflation while also trying to think what other central banks are also uh doing around the world for example uh the Federal Reserve uh uh the ECB the bank of England because obviously we are looking at a cycle of interest rate Cuts uh and inflation is somewhat under control in this particular world but I think when it comes to Japan we are still looking at a very different equation altogether and that is very much R of momentum and secondly more importantly once again is going to be the conversations of trade tariffs and how that is going to impact Global growth so I think investors are keeping an eye on these things but we are very much optimistic in terms of a Japanese Market going into 2025 and we do expect the manufacturing uh data to move into positive territory or let's say in the expansion territory and produc a reading above that 50 Mark that you mentioned all right Naim Asam Chief investment officer at Z Capital markets thank you very much for your analysis thanks for having me staying in Japan the government has approved a record-breaking budget for the upcoming fiscal year am made political tension the budget for 2025 total $730 billion surpassing the previous record of 726 billion set for 2024 for the 11th consecutive year Japan's budget draft has set a new record for National defense spending allocating at5 55. 1 billion the ministry of Defense says the nation faces the most difficult and complex security environment since World War II highlighting the critical need for enhanced military Readiness expanding Social Security costs is another key driver of the budget's growth sparking concerns over over Japan's fiscal stability of the total budget $24 billion or around a third is dedicated to Social Security reflecting the ongoing challenges of an aging population and declining birth rate which weigh heavily on Japan's economic future moving on to South Korea now where the transport Ministry says the pilot of the xiu airplane that crashed at muan airport on Sunday morning declared Mayday following a bird strike the call for help was made before the aircraft crash landed on the runway and burst into flames authorities say there was no time on the ground to prepare for an emergency landing 179 people were killed in the incident a team of us investigators are joining local authorities to probe possible causes the Boeing 737800 was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it crashed killing all on board apart from two flight attendants both black boxes the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder have been found when I saw the accident video it seemed like out of control when the plane entered the airport the pilots probably had no choice but to do it my daughter who was only in her mid-40s ended up like this this is unbelievable now the aviation industry faced a turbulent year with Boe air aircraft encountering several challenges from mechanical failures to tragic accidents the spotlight remains on safety and accountability here's a timeline of the key incident in 2024 on January 5th shortly after takeoff an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 max9 experienced an explosive decompression faulty installation of a door plug was identified as the cause grounding 171 aircraft for inspections in May at 32,000 ft a Southwest Airlines flight face uncontrollable side to side yawning motion luckily the pilot managed to ensure a safe landing June 23rd Midway to Taiwan Korean Air Boe Korean Air's Boeing 737 Max 8 suffered a cabin pressure fault the plane returned to inchon with 15 passengers treated for hyperventilation and air drum injuries December was the worst month for Boeing Aircraft on the 28th aklm Boeing 737800 diverted to Sanford Airport following a hydraulic failure the aircraft veered into a grassed area during Landing just a day later a guu air Boeing 737800 belly landed at muan International Airport crashing into a concrete wall tragically 179 of the 181 on board lost their Liv marking A Dark Day in aviation following these incidents Boeing initiated worldwide inspections to address potential systemic issues the focus was on identifying vulnerabilities in Rudder systems hydraulic controls and cabin pre pressurization mechanisms let's get more on this now with Aviation analyst Keith tonin in Brisbane Australia good to have you on the program with us Keith now why do you think we're witnessing so many incidents involving Boeing aircraft this year and what implications does this have for the company it does seem like there have been a lot of Boeing aircraft incidents and accidents this year and and hopefully that's the end of it with only a day to go now the different types of aircraft that have experienced those issues are relatively not connected the the max aircraft that had those issues earlier this year uh are relatively new and very different to the one that that had the accident in South Korea just now the 737800 has been flying in service since the late '90s decades now and there's a lot lot known about that aircraft and the way it operates and flies and the systems on board so I'm not not convinced that that that accident has any direct correlation with some of the other issues with the Boeing aircraft uh Boeing will be very concerned we've seen some of the results of the investigations and the the penalties that have been applied and it's doing a lot to try and rectify the situation to retain its credibility and to make sure that it aircraft is safe and how would you assess Boeing's current safety protocols compared to Industry standards there have been some real significant issues identified by the FAA In America which is the the regulatory Authority responsible for the Boeing aircraft to make sure that they're designed and manufactured according to the relevant standards and that they're they're fit for purpose and safe to enter into service and those issues are being rectified through a program with relevant oversight and we we have every confidence that the aircraft flying that are released for service are safe and that they they will continue to be so in the future and what specific areas is Boeing falling short there are different issues identified for different aircraft types we mentioned the max 9 with the door plug issue that was specific to that aircraft there were some issues in manufacturing certain parts and Spirit uh a system which is the organization responsible for manufacturing some of those parts has been taken back by boing after it was divested so there are things being done Works underway to try and fix those problems and uh the FAA and the regulatory authorities are certainly giving that a lot of scrutiny as well and how have these series of incidents impacted Boeing stock performance and overall Market position well it's certainly impacted at the bottom line for the company they've had to lay off thousands of workers uh the the the queue for Airlines wanting to buy aircraft has now moved from Boeing across to Airbus so Airbus is is trying hard to manufacture aircraft as quickly as it can to try and secure more of the market but it's it's a limited pipeline and Boeing is also been restricted in how many aircraft it can manufacture so it it's certainly feeling the pinch and it'll be trying very hard to to rectify those issues to gain confidence for the industry and make sure it can continue to prosper in the future all right Keith toning we will have to leave it there thank you very much for joining us very [Music] welcome now quick look at some of the other top business stories from around the world the UK will start taxing private schools from January raising $1.
9 billion to improve public education private schools will pay 20% tax on tuition fees which average $22,600 a year the money will be used to hire new teachers and improve State schools the government says the plan will help reduce education gaps homelessness in the US Rose by more than 18% this year reaching over 770,000 people officials say rising housing costs and natural disasters have fueled The Surge family homelessness also jumped 39% with numbers doubling in areas affected by migration the total marks the highest level since the federal government began its annual count in 2007 Italy's Parliament has approved a $31 billion budget for 2025 that aims to cut fiscal deficit to 3. 3% of GDP prime minister Georgia Malone's third budget focuses on tax cuts and social security for lowincome Citizens including an $1,100 baby bonus for families Italy has previously pledged to bring its fiscal deficit below the eu's 3% of GDP ceiling in 2026 and Huawei surprise Shoppers with a significant price drop during a super brande promotion on jd.
