Global FX DATA:

• • • ASIAN MARKET
      
      Asian shares slumped on Tuesday, as miners were pressured by weaker Chinese iron ore prices, while the euro stood near a 3-year peak on rising expectations that the European Central Bank could pare its monetary stimulus.
       
    • GOLD
      

      Gold prices rose in Asia on Tuesday as the market shrugged off signs of tighter monetary policies ahead for the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank and took advantage of a weaker dollar trend to buy the greenback-denominated commodity.

    • OIL
      
      Brent crude prices consolidated recent gains at around $70 a barrel on Tuesday, a level not seen since 2014’s dramatic oil market slump.
       
    • ISRAEL
      
       India and Israel will begin work on a free trade pact that Israel has been pushing for, as Benjamin Netanyahu began a first visit by an Israeli prime minister in 15 years.India and Israel have built close ties over the years, largely centered on arms purchases, away from the public eye. But under Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose nationalist party has long admired Israel for its tough approach to terrorism, ties have flowered across the economy.
       
    • CHINA
      
      China’s President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call on Tuesday that the hard-earned easing of tensions on the Korean peninsula must continue.
       
    • SINGAPORE
      
      Singapore’s central bank head hoped the technologies underpinning cryptocurrencies such as blockchain would not be undermined by an eventual crash in the virtual coins.
       
    • GERMANY
      
      Germany's Continental AG has hired JP Morgan to advise on a possible break-up, as the auto parts maker repositions for a market focused on electric and self-driving vehicles.

    • INDONESIA
      
      Indonesia's stock exchange held a minute silence at the start of trading on Tuesday for more than 70 people injured when a mezzanine floor in the building suddenly collapsed.

    • THAILAND
      
      Thailand welcomed a record 35.38 million foreign tourists in 2017, up 8.8 percent from the previous year.Thailand’s December tourist arrivals were seen at 3.5 million, the ministry said in a press release, up 15.1 percent from a year earlier.
       

    • INDIA
      
       India will build facial recognition into its national identity card in addition to fingerprints after a series of breaches in the world’s biggest biometric identification programme.

    • SOUTH KOREA
      
      South Korea’s central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Thursday after raising it in November for the first time in more than six years.