Global FX TESTING DATA:

• • • Asian markets
      
      

      Stocks in Asia traded mixed after dismal economic data from China while investors await the rate decision from the Bank of England due later today.

       
    • GOLD
      
      

      Gold edged down early to hover around its lowest in nearly two weeks, with investors turning their attention to U.S. consumer inflation data later in the day for clues on the timing of further interest rate hikes.

    • OIL
      
      

      Oil prices eased, but held on to most of their gains in the previous session when the market was buoyed by a forecast for firmer global oil demand by the International Energy Agency.

    • CHINA
      
      

      China posted its slowest growth in fixed-asset investment in nearly 18 years along with weaker-than-expected industrial output and retail sales, suggesting the economy may be starting to lose steam as lending costs rise.

    • AUSTRALIA
      

       Australian Olympic Committee media head Mike Tancred has left the organisation as part of a restructuring despite being cleared of allegations of bullying.Tancred stood down from his role and was severely reprimanded after allegations of bullying were made by Carroll’s predecessor Fiona de Jong.

    • LONDON

      Britain will reject “protectionist” agendas from the European Union in favour of “forward-leaning” proposals when it comes to supervising cross-border financial markets after Brexit.Britain, the bloc’s biggest financial centre, acknowledged there are legitimate concerns among its European partners about the oversight and supervision of financial markets after the UK leaves the EU in March 2019

    • UN

        U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday urged Myanmar authorities to end violence against the majority-Buddhist country’s Rohingya Muslims that has forced some 400,000 people to flee to Bangladesh.Guterres said the situation in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine was best described as ethnic cleansing.“When one-third of the Rohingya population had to flee the country, could you find a better word to describe it?”.
       
    • PAKISTAN
      

      Pakistan told medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres’ (MSF) to stop work and leave its impoverished tribal areas that border Afghanistan, the health organisation said, ending its 14 year stay in the volatile region.

    • INDIA
           
       India has invited bids to appoint two financial advisors and one legal advisor for the privatisation of national carrier Air India and its subsidiaries.The government gave the green light to sell Air India, which has struggled under losses and its debts and officials have said they want the process to offload all or parts of the airline by early 2018.

    • NORTH KOREA
      
        North Korea displayed trademark defiance on Wednesday over new United Nations sanctions imposed after its sixth and largest-ever nuclear test, vowing to redouble efforts to fight off what it said was the threat of a U.S. invasion.U.S. President Donald Trump said the sanctions, unanimously agreed on Monday by the 15-member U.N. Security Council, were just a small step toward what is ultimately needed to rein in Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programmes.