Global FX DATA:

• • • ASIAN MARKET
      
      Business confidence among Asian companies rose in the first quarter to the highest level in seven years, as a fresh surge by the Chinese economy offset concerns about rising trade barriers.
       
    • GOLD
      
      Gold prices rose on Wednesday as the dollar fell as investors await the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting this week for signs of the pace of monetary tightening, which could limit the demand for bullion going forward.
       
  • • OIL
      
      Oil prices rose on Wednesday, lifted by tensions in the Middle East and healthy demand, although rising U.S. output continued to weigh on markets.
       
    • INDIA
      
      India and China agreed to consult each other on regional and international issues, the Indian side said after a phone call on Tuesday between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
       
    • DOLLAR
      
      The dollar remained steady ahead of Federal Reserve new head Jerome Powell’s news conference on Wednesday, from which investors expect a rate hike this month and will find cues whether there will be three or four rate hikes this year.
       
    • NEWZEALAND
      
      A New Zealand court rejected on Wednesday internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom’s application for former U.S. President Barack Obama to appear in court in relation to a damages claim over his defunct Megaupload streaming website.
       
    • AUSTRALIA
      
      Australian billionaire James Packer has quit the board of casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd due to mental illness, following a tumultuous period including a break-up with singer Mariah Carey and the failure of Crown’s expansion strategy.

    • ISRAEL
      
      The Israeli military formally acknowledged on Wednesday its destruction of a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007, saying the air strike removed a major threat to Israel and the region and was a “message” to others.

    • US
      
      The U.S. government has dropped a demand that all vehicles made in Canada and Mexico for export to the United States contain at least 50 percent U.S. content, The Globe and Mail reported on Tuesday

    • NEW YORK
      
      The $2.4 billion sale of New York’s Chelsea Market to Alphabet Inc’s Google closed on Tuesday in a deal that will expand the company’s presence in the city’s technology corridor along the Hudson River.

    • MISSISSIPI
      
      A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a Mississippi law that enacted the tightest restrictions on abortion in the United States, in a ruling handed down a day after the governor signed the measure.