Global FX DATA:

• • • ASIAN MARKET
      
       Asian shares flirted with six-week lows on Thursday as U.S. bond yields crept up toward four-year highs as investors fretted that low borrowing costs enjoyed by companies for many years may be endangered by the threat of rising inflation.
       
    • GOLD
      
      Gold prices gained in Asia on Thursday as investors noted January trade data on China showed a narrower than expected surplus even as imports soared.
       
  • • OIL
      
      Oil prices eased on Thursday, taking Brent crude to a 2018 low, as soaring U.S. output uncermined OPEC's efforts to tighten markets and prop up prices.
       
    • NORTH KOREA
      
      North Korea has no intention of meeting U.S officials during the Winter Olympics that start on Friday, the KCNA news agency reported, dampening hopes the Games will help resolve a tense standoff over the North’s nuclear weapons program.
       
    • DOLLAR
      
       The dollar hovered above its recent lows against major rivals on Thursday, benefiting from the euro’s weakness and higher U.S. yields but capped by concerns about recent equity market volatility.
       
    • CRYPTOCURRENCY
      
      Digital currency bitcoin fell more than 15 percent  to a nearly three-month low amid a slew of concerns ranging from a global regulatory clampdown to a ban on using credit cards to buy bitcoin by British and U.S. banks.
       
    • AUSTRALIA
      
      Australian burger chain Grill’d has paid to actor Paul Hogan and a charity to settle a dispute over the use of one the “Crocodile Dundee” actor’s most famous lines,Hogan filed a lawsuit against the restaurant group in the Federal Court in December, accusing Grill’d of “misleading or deceptive conduct” by associating themselves with the Hogan brand without consent.

    • US
      
       The battered U.S. dollar is unlikely to rebound this year, even though the Federal Reserve is expected raise interest rates at least three times, according to a Reuters poll of strategists, who aren’t expecting any major moves either.

    • CHINA
      
      Chinese authorities in the southwestern province of Sichuan have asked financial institutions to conduct self-inspections on their financing of local governments, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

    • SINGAPORE
      
      Airbus SE wants to quadruple its market share in the Asia-Pacific military helicopter market to 40 percent within a decade to match its civil and government market share,DBS Group Holdings, Singapore’s biggest lender, said on Thursday it expects an improving interest rate environment to lift net interest margins this year, as it reported a 33 percent increase in quarterly profit, matching market expectations.
       

    • SOUTH KOREA
      
      South Korean police said Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee was suspected of evading tax for 8.2 billion won, and of using bank accounts held by employees that held 400 billion won.Police have been investigating alleged misappropriation of company funds used to pay for interior renovations of residences of his and his family‘s.
       

    • NEWZEALAND
      
      New Zealand’s central bank does not need to raise interest rates even though the economy is running near full capacity because inflation still requires a boost,Moreover, while unexpected strength in the New Zealand dollar in recent months did not alter the policy outlook, a sustained trend higher would be more concerning.
       

    • BRAZIL
      
      Brazilian antitrust agency Cade on Wednesday approved Bayer AG’s proposed takeover of U.S. seeds company Monsanto Co without requiring further asset sales beyond a global proposal announced last October.
       

    • MEXICO
      
      Left-wing Mexican presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has an 11-point lead over rivals, according to an opinion poll completed last week, with his closest rival gaining slightly and the ruling party candidate losing support.
       

    • JAPAN
      
      Japan’s financial regulator will this week launch on-site checks of several cryptocurrency exchange operators potentially vulnerable to cyber-attacks, and may widen its inspections.The Financial Services Agency (FSA) last Friday swooped on Coincheck Inc for surprise checks of its systems after the Tokyo-based operator had $530 million in digital money stolen by hackers.