Global FX DATA:

• • • ASIAN MARKET
      
      Asian shares rose on Thursday in holiday-thinned trade as they took a lead from the US overnight and shrugged off higher-than-expected consumer prices in the United States.
       
    • GOLD
      
      Gold prices held steady on Thursday, near the 2-1/2-week high hit in the previous session, supported by a weaker dollar and as investors bet on higher U.S. inflation after a faster-than-expected rise in consumer prices last month.
       
  • • OIL
      
       Oil prices on Thursday extended gains from the previous session, pushed up by a weak dollar and by comments from Saudi Arabia that it would rather see an undersupplied market than end a deal with OPEC and Russia to withhold production.
       
    • INDIA
      
      Just when many Indian banks thought the worst of their bad debt woes were behind them, new central bank rules are stoking fears that the worst of the soured-loans buildup is yet to come.
       
    • DOLLAR
      
      The dollar extended its losses against the yen and hit a fresh 15-month low on Thursday, with market participants bracing for further near-term weakness in the U.S. currency.
       
    • CRYPTOCURRENCY
      
      A group of cryptocurrency traders will file a lawsuit against Coincheck Inc on Thursday over last month’s theft of $530 million in digital money from the Tokyo-based exchange.
       
    • CHINA
      
      It is dangerous to advocate confrontation in relations between the United States and China, and wishful thinking to believe China will change the nature of its politics, China’s ambassador in Washington was quoted as saying by state media on Thursday.

    • IRAN
      
      Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will be seeking billions of dollars of Indian investment during a visit to New Delhi, diplomats said, a trip that comes amid U.S. pressure to review a 2015 international nuclear deal and re-impose sanctions on Iran.

    • JAPAN
      
      Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of the junior partner of Japan’s ruling coalition, said on Thursday there was no word from premier Shinzo Abe on whom the government would nominate as the next Bank of Japan governor.

    • ATHENS
      
      The World Chess Federation (FIDE) says its Swiss bank accounts have been frozen because its president - with whom the FIDE secretariat is embroiled in a power struggle - is under U.S. sanctions for alleged dealings with the Syrian government.

    • MAYANMAR
      
      A police officer who said he was part of the team that detained two Reuters reporters in Myanmar in December told a court on Wednesday that he was not familiar with police procedures for recording arrests.

    • SOUTH AFRICA
      
      Jacob Zuma resigned as President of South Africa on Wednesday, heeding orders by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to bring an end to his nine scandal-plagued years in power.

    • US
      
      The U.S. government was wrong to cut taxes at this stage of the business cycle given the economy is near full employment, but will nonetheless help lift growth this year and give the Federal Reserve more reason to raise rates, a Reuters poll of economists found.