country's biggest automaker announced a dividend hike. but the shenzhen was deeply in the red as tech shares and small cap stocks continue to tumble. better than expected banking earnings coming from icbc, the hang seng index gained over 11% thanks to hope that more analysts would be on its way to avert a sharp downturn. it was another choppy session in japan as it nears its fiscal year. march consumer inflation for the ninth straight month and labor demand improved. and the nikkei 225 gained 0.5% today and is up 3.3% for the week. in south korea, the kospi tested highs thanks to foreign buying and had its best week up 2.4%. down under, australian miners rebounded sending the asx 200 hier by 0.3%. that is a look at asia. >> we have to say thank you and good-bye. i understand this is the last time you're appearing on "worldwide exchange." >> yes, you're right. it's been really nice working with you over the past three years. >> yeah. you're off to get married. is that right? >> yes, that's right. >> okay. well, look, we wish you all the best in your new life. thank you so much. >>

composite consolidated just above the key 2000 level ending higher by 1%. and the shenzhen gained a stronger 2% today. the hang seng index in hong kong ended lower by just modest .3%. concerns over the ukraine crisis continue to way on sentiment. and the nikkei slipped to a six-week closing low. and australia also ended near its one-month lows. but south korea's kospi saw bargain hunting after last week's steep loss ending .10%. as for solid winners, the chinese cement makers outperformed on support of policies and urbanization reforms. they totally surged up by 10%. and on to some individual movers jar japan's soft bank soared after ali babba decided to list the long-awaited ipo in the u.s. softbank earns a 37% stake in ali babba, but this headed further south ending lower for tencent at 3%. and that's a look at the asian markets. back to you, ross. >> li sixuan, thank you for that. we'll catch you later. meanwhile, more on the ukraine in crisis. steve is there in kiev post this referendum which has crimea wishing to succeed to russia. steve, what happens now? i presume russia can

shenzhen down by 0.4%. the hang seng index in hong kong slipped 1% today. over in japan, hurt by a stronger yen, the nikkei 225 suffered its second largest percentage loss this year, ended lower by over 3%. exporters, china play, utility stocks, financials and delisted shares were broadly lower. in south korea, pouring outflows continued for the fifth straight session with the kospi ending down by 0.735%. in australia had its biggest weekly fall in three months with miners and banks leading the losses. in terms of individual movers, tangseng holdings slipped 4% today after reports that the pboc demanded payments made by scanning the stock hold for its mobile devices be halted. reportedly, the central bank has issued such a notice to china citic bank which operates credit cards in cooperation with tencent and alibaba. citic and h and a-shares are both suspended this morning after losses of over 8%. that's a look out of asian markets. back to you, ross. >> thanks for that, sixuan. catch you a little later. >> we have a global sell-off because of concerns of growth in china and also t

the shanghai composite ended down a modest 10.1%. is shenzhen down by 0.1%. in hong kong, the hang seng index dipped 1.6%. in japan, hurt by a stronger yen and those china jitters, the nikkei 225 had its worst loss in over a month ending down by 2.6%. in south korea, chemical and steel shares came under pressure on the earnings for you. investors continued to sell down shares for the third straight session. the kospi ended lower by 1.6%. in australia, although miners made a rebound today, still lower by 0.6% as we got a very weak reading on consumer confidence. as for individual stocks, china's baoding tillway splitted 5% after delisting posting net losses for two years in a row. its corporate bonds were suspended ford second session spurring credit default jitters. on the other hand, let me show you the bright spot in hong kong today. chinavision surged almost 200% after news that alibaba is buying a 60% stake in the tv and sales proction firm for over $800 million. this comes one day after the dotcom deal while china's internet players have been racing each other by joining force

gains on the shanghai composite. the shenzhen comp ended flat. elsewhere, cutting its yield on exports, the nikkei 225 still gained 0.7%. otherwise, in australia, a pullback in the business condition survey kept investors cautious. the asx 200 ended on a flat note. as for individual stocks, china's construction and property stocks can rebound while valuations seemed to be attractive after the recent slide. yesterday, china merchants posted a 30% rise in contract signing sales from the first two months this year and its shares recouped some of the losses of yesterday. after yesterday's 10% slemp. that is a look out of asian markets. back to you, ross. >> sixuan, thank you for that. >>> stateside, january wholesale is out at 10:00 a.m. eastern, forecasted to rise 0.5%. dick's sporting goods, american eagle reporting results before the open. after the bell, wall hear from caesars entertainment and veri ddz fone. joining us for the first part of the show today, gina, co-founder of floebl. a lot going on in the world as ever. we have geopoliticics in the ukraine. concern about growt

. >> china markets took a beating today. the china composite tumbled almost 3% and the shenzhen tanked 3.5%. over in hong kong the hang seng index lost 1.7%. and that weakness in china also weighed on the rest of asia. and the nikkei lost 1.01%. and technology shares set the kospi lower 1% as well. australia stocks posted their biggest drop in five weeks with the asx 200 ending lower by 1%. as for malaysia, shares hit a one-week low asthmalation airlines tumbled 4%, recouping most of the morning losses due to the flight mh-370 incident. minors in the region suffered due to the falling oil prices. metals in atlas tumbled by 10% in today's trade. meanwhile, copper futures dropped another 5%. daily limit to its lowest in more than four years after the dive last friday. so china's metals-related stocks also broadly weaker. in the tech base, they are joining with jd.com seen as a bid to take on bigger rival ali baba. you are looking at year-to-date performance as an upward trend with shares losing 2.2% today. that's a look at the asian markets. back to you, ross. >>> li sixuan, thank you for th