Monday Newsline:Asian Shares Lower;Indian Election;MH-370 Progress

Asian markets were mostly lower Monday on the disappointing US jobs report Friday,which fell short of analysts' growth projections.The Nikkei cratered 1.69%,while the HSI fell 0.74 and the ASX slipped 0.17.US stock futures were also lower.The Shanghai Composite defied the trend,rising 0.74%.
Wheat prices are up on widespread dryness in breadbasket areas from Ukraine to the United States.*
The world's largest democracy has begun its elections today as India goes to the polls.The nationalist BJP party is the frontrunner over the incumbent Congress Party.The BJP is led by Narendra Modi,Chief Minister of Gujarat state.Some label him as a fascist guilty of human rights violations,and he was denied entry to the US in 2005.He is popular in corporate circles as Gujarat state has done well.*
The search for flight MH-370 entered a new,more promising phase Monday as searchers zeroed in on the Australian Defence Ministry vessel Ocean Shield's detection of two extended audio events near the bottom of the Indian Ocean.The great depth of the pinging episodes consistent with the plane's flight recorders,one of which lasted for two hours twenty minutes and the other for thirteen minutes at some 4500 meters/2.8 miles,suggest why this search has been the most challenging in aviation history.
The pings were picked up by the US Navy's pinger locator device that the Ocean Shield was towing at depth over the new area off Western Australia's northern coast.The searchers need a third pinging event so they can triangulate the location and send the Blue Fin 21 submersible down to take still photos of the possible wreckage.It's a process that could require days to complete,retired Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston,the search coordinator,told reporters in a Perth press conference.He said we are very close to where we need to be.Clearly this is a most promising lead.In the search so far,it is probably the best information that we have had.*
In sport,Australian golfer Matt Jones won the Shell Houston Open,securing a place for himself in The Masters tournament this weekend in Augusta,Georgia.It was Jones' first PGA victory.American Matt Kuchar came in second,and Sergio Garcia of Spain took third.
Meanwhile,American Lexi Thommpson made the traditional leap into Poppy's Pond at Mission Hills Golf Club in Rancho Mirage,California as the winner of the Kraft Nabisco Open,the year's first major on the LPGA circuit.It was the fourth LPGA win for Thompson,19,who is known for her long drives.

Haunted By The Nikkei

The specter of Japan's most popular stock average,the Nikkei,hovers over the minds of U.S. officials and investors alike.The Nikkei reached its peak of around 40,000 in 1988.For 22 years,it has failed to even get close to that level again.It's only at about 9500 now.Is that to be the fate of Western markets as well following the financial crisis?
James Bullard,President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis,says deflation is not the main economic scenario for the U.S.All the same,core inflation has drifted below 1%.We're on the low side.The Japanese situation has been very difficult for them to get out of.Mr.Bullard calls for a plan to have significant easing.If the economy continues to recover,we can all forget about it,but a big shock to the economy could cause the Japanese situation here.Japan is a big,industrialized country;they're like us.The Fed's interest rate targeting can create this outcome.Low inflation plus low rates can cause deflation.
The academic community takes this risk seriously.Mr.Bullard is still an inflation hawk,but that's not where we are now.If we promise to stay at 0% rates for 10 years,it's gonna be Japan all over again.At some point,the strategy has to shift.In that situation,deflation,ordinary stabilization methods are shut down.You're in this environment where inflation can be too low,and you have to deal with that.Quantitative easing can work.It's important to do contingency planning for all outcomes,the Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard believes.

China's Exports Drop

China's exports dropped 2.8% in December,following a 2.2% slip in November.The December result was the worst in 10 years.Foreign purchases have fallen sharply in the financial crisis,generating big layoffs.Chinese exports had grown 26.7% in January of 2008,but the situation is so bad now,it threatens social stability.Meanwhile,in Japan,Sony may report an operating loss of as much as 1.1 billion dollars in March,as the crisis crimps sales,business daily The Nikkei said.Sony says it will soon announce a restructuring plan,including layoffs,to deal with the downturn.