Global FX TESTING DATA:

• • • ASIAN MARKET
      
      The New Year rally in Asian shares ran out of steam on Thursday as concerns about the U.S. administration's protectionist stance hit Wall Street while U.S. bonds were dented by speculation China may curtail buying.
       
    • GOLD
      

      Gold prices eased slightly in Asia on Thursday as investors debated the prospect of China sharly trimming puchases of US Treasurys and whether the Bank of Japan is set to inch forward on a way out of its aggressive monetary policy.

       
    • OIL
      
      Oil prices held near three-year highs on Thursday, supported by a surprise drop in U.S. production and lower crude inventories, although analysts increasingly warned of signs that fuel markets have overheated.
       
    • SOUTH KOREA
      
      South Korea’s justice minister said on Thursday the government is preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading, throwing the virtual coin market into turmoil as the nation’s police and tax authorities raided local exchanges on alleged tax evasion.
       
    • MEXICO
      
      Mexico will leave the NAFTA negotiating table if U.S. President Donald Trump decides to trigger a 6-month process to withdraw from the trade pact, three Mexican sources with knowledge of the talks.Canada was increasingly convinced that Trump would soon announce the United States intends to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), sending the Canadian and Mexican currencies lower and hurting stocks across the continent.
       
    • CHINA
      
      China’s showing once again that it’s not afraid to wield the clout of its hoard of Treasuries to catch the attention of U.S. officials and the world’s biggest debt market. But as in a previous episode in 2009, such warnings may prove hollow.
       
    • LONDON
      
      Job vacancies in London’s finance industry fell 52 percent in December, the most in three years, according to a survey.Recruitment firm Morgan McKinley attributed the drop partly to the holiday season and said its findings underscored the looming “Brexodus” from the City -- particularly since there was also a 37 percent decline in job openings year-on-year.

    • DOLLAR
      
      The dollar nursed its losses against the yen on Thursday, having suffered its biggest one-day drop in nearly eight months following a report that China was ready to slow or halt its purchases of U.S. Treasuries.

    • INDIA
      
      Indian oil consumption in 2017 grew at its slowest in four years, according to government statistics, hit by the government’s demonetisation move and a tax increase that knocked the gain in fuel use back to a modest 2.3 percent.