French election with a decisive win over Marine Le Pen. Rishaad right, we are looking at what is going on when it comes to trade numbers out of china. They should be out in the next hour, about 35 billion, the surplus there, giving us an idea of what is going on with the Global Economy and domestic demand, the intrinsic point for the chinese economy as we see this rebalancing taking place. Seeping out of the country, but it feels like these capital controls are working. Haidi some pretty jerked capital controls. Draconian pretty capital controls. We did see that in the fx reserves. 8392, that pulls together these stories, the yuan stabilizing, the spot rate, and then the monthly foreignexchange reserves. Around 3ll sitting trillion, but that number was much better than what economists were in, but does reflect a capitaluan, stricter controls but stopped money from leaving the country, and arguably a pickup in terms of sentiment in terms of how investors are perceiving how the chinese economy is going, moving away from the catalysts of the the diminishment of political risks in europe. We are looking ahead to china data and trade numbers as the next driver when it comes to the asian session. We are 30 minutes away from the open. Lets get it over to sophie for a look at markets. Were expecting japan to play catchup, and they are certainly doing that. Sophie definitely playing catchup. Japanese traders looking refreshed after their three day break. The nikkei and topix surging to highs last seen in 2015 as the yen hovers around sevenweek lows. We had that relief from the wind in the french elections for Emmanuel Macron, and the Global Growth richard lending some cheer as it looks intact. Aussie stocks snapping a four drop, aussie dollar at january lows. Set for another fresh high, very resilient, along with the korean won looking past election risks for now. In the bond space, all see bonds sliding as it is risk on sunday,g the vote on matching treasury moves. In the commodities space, focus given that selloff across different commodities last week, but we do have oil on the front wti and brent extending the rebound as goldman and citibank warning that the selloff was not based on fundamentals. And taiwan, we have time when these media reporting that some suppliers of iphone eight parts will kick into gear early, starting Production One month earlier than expected in june, and those stocks on the rise. Tsmc to start chip production in july to be on track. We do have iphone supplier w was cut toing as it equal weight at morgan stanley. Rishaad right, we have been talking about the french elections, but there is also an election in germany. Rosalind we are talking about germany where the cdu has defeated the incumbent social democrat in northern germany. She is gaining momentum, the victory gives the cdu a lift into next weekends election. It is seen as the main bellwether before the national vote. Chinas Foreign Exchange reserves increased for a third month as tighter capital controls and easing currency pressure kept money from flowing out. The pboc says holdings rose 20 at 3. 03o end trillion. That was more than estimated by a economists, a three. 0 to train dollars stockpile. By a capita group has bid for Fairfax Media. Includes the new Zealand Business, regional newspapers, and stakes in radio and streaming dentures. Fairfax says it is viewing the proposal. The premier of taiwan is eyeing opportunities in china as his administration looks to boost trade links to the u. S. And southeast asia. He isnt opposed to stronger cross strait economic links and called china big market that should not be pushed away. Global news 24 hours a day powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. This is bloomberg. Haidi thanks for that. Chinas Foreign Exchange reserves rising for a firstrate month in april. Tighter capital controls reducing outflows and the yuan holding stable. A trade data out today at some point expected to show a slowdown when it comes to exports moderating from the stellar growth of the last few months. Tom mackenzie has been following this for us. You saw the fx numbers of the weekend, how sustainable is it . Question iter that is worth going back to january, you will remember the hand wringing win fx reserves drop through that 3 trillion level. Seen three consecutive months of strengthening, over 20 billion in april, hitting that 3. 03 trillion mark. There are a number of factors feeding into this stronger fx reserves pile, the capital controls, the stability of the yuan, and then the growth picture as well. We are seeing that stronger gdp number in the last quarter of 2016 and the First Quarter of 2017, but then you have the considerations as to whether or not the growth starts to slow, particular he after this weaker than expected pmi numbers. Bloomberg intelligence saying we could see Slower Growth in the second half that could lead to a domino effect with the pboc under pressure to stop its rate hikes. It is trying to keep pace with the fed to some degree, raising rates in the money markets. It may be under pressure to stop doing that if growth reduces, leading to more pressure on outflows and the yuan, but this is still the largest pile of affects reserves in the world, but has reduced from 4 trillion in 2014. Into thatard, playing is the growth picture we have been talking about, and tying into that is the import, export, and trade data this morning. Rishaad what should the trade data really tell us at the end of the day . The export number we are looking for, the estimates are 11. 3 , downl up though from the march number which was around 16. 3 growth in exports. Bloomberg intelligence again pointing out that there is a comparison effect, because this is a year on year number that comes from a low base and there may be an upward surprised, that even if it is in line with estimates, Bloomberg Intelligence say it would show robust strength or exports in china and Strong Demand from u. S. Households. Again, you have had the fx of a weaker yuan. Over 18 months, it is weaker, and will have supported exports. The indicators leading to this trade data have been mixed. South korean exports came in strongly, but then the pmi number we got last week that suggested that export orders have reduced and have slowed, so it will be interesting to see what these numbers come up with. 18 , downpected up from 20 last month. We will be getting those data points around 10 00 hong kong time. Rishaad thank you so much for that. Still ahead, Emmanuel Macron, victory in the french president ial election, what lies ahead for the eurozone secondbiggest economy. Plus, south koreas Economic Growth has been slowing for several years, but can tomorrows election kickstarter turnaround . To the chief economist for standard poors, up next. This is bloomberg. Rishaad this is Bloomberg Markets asia. I am Rishaad Salamat in hong kong. Haidi i am haidi lun in sydney. Reported first half cash profit of just over 4 billion aussie dollars. The bank announced an interim dividend of . 94 a share in line with analysts forecasts. Westpac says it sees resilience and good prospects for the australian economy and expects house price growth in the biggest cities to slow. Groupd chinas hna behind the sale of a 500 million stake in standard chartered. Omura dispose of the one point 6 stake after the conglomerate increased its position in deutsche bank. Is the biggest shareholder and europes largest investment bank. Numbers wouldshi reflect a 30 sales drop in its rating scandal. The nikkei reported revenue may have fallen 15 on Global Vehicle sales. South korea alexa new president tuesday with the kospi resilient in the face of rising regional tensions and corporate scandals at home. The vote and how it will affect the outlook for korea and a sense of the mood on the street there as well. It is less than 24 hours away for South Koreans to head to the polls at 6 00 a. M. On tuesday. The mood on the streets is optimistic. Was the epicenter of months and months of protest for the ouster of President Park. Supporters of the candidates have been around this area effortning, their last to gain support. I saw earlier the conservative and supporters campaigning in this area, but also protesters in front of government offices, asking the government to improve the economy and allow them to survive in this Economic Situation that south korea faces. It has been a tense situation for south korea since the ouster of President Park. A lot of things have changed. We are seeing interest in south korean elections given that this was a historic ouster of the president. There are tensions over the reforms of conglomerates, owning about 27 of business assets and so depending on who gets elected president , those reforms could change. The main candidates that have dominated the race have in the liberal, a centrist, and a conservative. They have very different views on the economy and how they deal with north korea. A lot hanging on the line on this election. Mentioned one of the key challenges for whoever becomes the next leader will be conglomerate reform. What is being done on that front so far . Shery we are seeing dozens of bills sitting in parliament. There are some easy ones to pass , such as electronic voting for minority shareholders to vote be more, but others may complicated, such as enhancing Corporate Governance and preventing shareholders from installing their own friendly auditors, so lawmakers are across the spectrum saying it might be easier to pass electronic voting, but restricting treasury shares, which are key for these conglomerates to consolidate power, that may be a bit more tricky. Theeast when it comes to economic mood, it seems more optimistic. Seeing exports jumping to a sevenyear high in april, so people are optimistic on the economic side, but take a look at the stock market at an alltime high. Haidi thank you for that. We will be checking with you throughout the day as South Koreans head to the polls. For more on the korean economic outlook, lets bring in s p globals chief asiapacific economist in tokyo. Thank you for taking time to speak with us. Going into these elections, we have had an uptick when it comes to trade numbers from korea and the markets have been land and a sanguine about the of evils that have faced the country over the are you months optimistic that after we get a new government that it will be an easy transition . Good morning. It is a tough transition because korea is an open economy hit eyes slower Global Growth and slower trade. China is moving up the value curve, encroaching on koreas Traditional Industries, like flatscreen production that has moved out of korea, so korea needs to stay ahead of china and has to rotate towards services and higher and consumption goods and away from some the other things they have been doing. It is not clear how much the new , wernment can do, but korea will see if they can rebalance around china and break into a higher growth rate, but they are threeish for the medium term. How much are you looking at conglomerate reform . That looks to be enormous political pressure for the new president to tackle quickly. Will that be growth negative in the shortterm . It could be. I used to run the imf office and korea 15 years ago and we were talking about conglomerate reform back then, so it is not a new issue. From our point of view, korean needs to be flexible and able to move away from its Traditional Industries into new markets. If we dont have a flexible conglomerate sector, that will be more difficult. This will be a slow, protracted process, negative as you mentioned, but if they get it right, it will enhance flexibility and give a model uptick to growth over the medium term. Rishaad im going to be at 571, indicating that these events like this Corruption Scandal and the implications on growth, how much can growth be hurt by what is going on with Political Uncertainty in particular . What sort of an impact can it have . Typically in korea and elsewhere where this hits is toestment. People continue spend money, so it is not a consumption story, but if there is political and policy uncertainty and the investment horizons multiyear, firms may hold back on spending. You will probably see some soft investment through this political patch, but if we get the upper left, that is where it will be exports as well. Rishaad lets move it along and change countries and have a look at all straight in the budget coming up. How is it looking to you . The government signaled they want to get back to surplus in 2021. The headwinds have been on the nominal side, week wage growth, week inflation. Other than korea, australia is the other country that needs to rebalance around china, and to be frank given the size of the trade relationship and the the fact that all strain growth growthike all strain is around three again, that looks like a pretty good story. We will have to see the details of the budget, but they are on a path to get it back into balance about 2021. Here in australia, it feels like there is an up holdion with keeping a of this aaa. Are they doing enough . Can touch the ratings. I will leave that to my sovereign colleagues. That willbackground support that, a similar issue to korea. See in australia that Services Exports to china are reflate in the economy a little bit, supporting revenue, and to the extent it feeds into the fiscal and help from the macro side, that is a good part of the story. I know the government is distinguishing between good investments, things that would productive frontier and boost growth over the mediumterm term, and less productive investments, but we will wait for the details on the budget, but are expecting the 2021 target to stay in place. Haidi thank you for that. Forng up, a brutal week iron ore and a lot of commodities, concerns over supply, conditions in china. We will take a look at the outlook and how the china data may come into play. This is bloomberg. Rishaad we are counting you down to the start of the trading day in china and hong kong. Concludedket auction five minutes ago. The upside, some uncertainty gone as we have Emmanuel Macron elected as the french president. It was all about commodities to a large extent on friday. Nothing more so than what happened on the iron ore market, tradeown to the inflation out of donald trump coming to an end, fundamentals such as supply and demand with supply outstripping demand . 7778, limit down on friday, 5 off. The day before, another 5 fall back as well. Keeping a tab on iron ore at the moment. Haidi if you look at those china, theree in is a significant retail component. We are talking about the impact of tighter monetary conditions. This could be the china part of least when it at comes to producer inflation gauges, we may have hit a peak. We will be watching out for that story when we get the china trade numbers and a little bit. Coming up, taiwan needs more Foreign Workers to boost its economy. With the government needs to do to bring in professionals and stop brain drain. This is bloomberg. Rishaad that is the view to victorias peak in hong kong. The tradingart of day looking like a positive session with the nasdaq and s p coming in. FromRishaad Salamat bloombergs asian headquarters. Haidi i am haidi lun in sydney. We are waiting for china trade numbers, the next week driver when it comes to Market Sentiment in a you and globally given the ramifications. Now that we have have that sigh of relief from the president ial election in france, a landslide margin when it comes to Emmanuel Macrons victory. We are waiting for some numbers from australia. Building approval, something we are watching closely given the situation of an overheated Property Market across major cities like sydney and melbourne. From the reserve bank of australia governor taking awe, he was look at Building Construction approval numbers come in that would suggest that supply is starting to increase and we will get that rebalancing happening. It is a far worse tech line than we were expecting, approvals falling 13. 4 . The survey was for a decline of 4 . In the previous month, a gain of 8. 3 . Down 19. 9 percent on year when it comes to building approvals. The survey was looking at a decline of 10 followed by last months 4. 9 . That does not bode well when it comes to that picture, the narrative i guess of an improving supply side situation when it comes to the australian Property Market. A lot of policymakers saying prices may be higher, but they are real because it does come down to a supplydemand situation. Job ads month on month for april, up 1. 4 , the previous. Umber. 3 rounding out the data drop in National AustraliaBank Business conditions 14 matching the previous month, and that was for april. Business confidence at 13 , picking up nicely from the previous reading of six or sent. Look at right, lets that as we digest of that figure and look at french elections, better than report on friday in the u. S. , and the austrian budget as well. Sophie we are seeing the aussie dollar follow below . 74 following the building approvals drop we saw that you elaborated on, so putting the currency under pressure. Equity markets seeing a sigh of relief extending to the hong kong session, that hang seng adding. 25 . Markets on the mainland not getting with the picture, the purging further from the global shanghai composite falling. 4 come the lowest since october. We have been wait