Global FX TESTING DATA:

• • • Asian markets
      
      

      Asian stocks edged to a 10-year high on Friday thanks to expectations of brisk global growth, although investors held off chasing shares higher ahead of U.S. economic data and next week’s Chinese Communist Party Congress.

    • GOLD
      
      
      Gold prices were little changed amid a steady dollar on Friday, halting a five-day rally as investors wait for key U.S. inflation data for clues on the outlook for potential hikes in U.S. interest rates.
       
    • OIL
      
      Oil prices rose on Friday as both U.S. crude production and inventories declined, pointing towards a tightening market.
       
    • SINGAPORE
      
      Singapore’s trade-reliant economy grew more than expected in the third quarter from the previous quarter on an annualised basis, on the back of manufacturing growth, preliminary data showed on Friday.

    • SOUTH KOREA
      
      South Korea said on Friday said it has agreed with China to extend a currency swap deal between the countries’ central banks, a decision that points to an easing of diplomatic tensions with Beijing over security issues.

    • CHINA
      
      China’s imports and exports grew at a faster pace in September than in the previous month, suggesting the world’s second-biggest economy is still expanding at a healthy clip despite widespread forecasts of an eventual slowdown.
       
    • NORTH KOREA
      
      A series of tremors and landslides near North Korea’s nuclear test base likely mean the country’s sixth and largest blast has destabilised the region, and the Punggye-ri nuclear site may not be used for much longer to test nuclear weapons, experts say.
       
    • MEXICO
      
      The leaders of Mexico and Canada on Thursday pledged to work toward a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) even as talks taking place in the United States turned sour due to hard-line U.S. demands.
       
    • NEW ZEALAND
      
       The leader of the small New Zealand party holding the balance of power after an inconclusive election last month said he would hold a key board meeting on Monday as he nears a decision on which party he will support in a coalition government.
      
       
    • CALIFORNIA
      
      The acrid smell of smoke borne on hurricane-strength winds greeted horse trainer Rebecca Cushman before dawn, her phone ringing repeatedly as people frantically sought help saving their animals from California’s deadly wildfires.