Global FX TESTING DATA:

• • • Asian markets
      
      

      Asian shares stepped back in cautious trade on Monday as investors look to see whether U.S. Republicans can hammer a tax reform deal quickly, while the British pound fell on growing doubts over Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership.

    • GOLD
      
      
      Gold gained in Asia on Monday as Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker on Monday said the U.S. central bank did not have to remove a lot of monetary policy accommodation before it returned to a neutral stance.
       
    • OIL
      
      Oil prices were mixed in Asia with WTI getting a boost on a pipeline disruption int he Middle East and concerns that oil facilities suffered damage from a deadly earthquake tat struck areas of Iran and Iraq earlier on Monday.

    • JAPAN
      
      Japanese companies are warming to mobilizing their mountains of accumulated cash for mergers and acquisitions but remain stubbornly resistant to wage increases, a Reuters poll showed on Monday.

    • LJUBLJANA
      
      Slovenian President Borut Pahor was re-elected for a second term in a runoff vote on Sunday, beating his challenger in a tight race.Pahor had won about 53 percent of the vote, with 99.9 percent of the votes counted, according to the Election Commission, while his opponent, ex-comedian Marjan Sarec, had 47 percent. Turnout was about 42 percent, according to preliminary figures, the lowest for a presidential election since Slovenia became an independent country in 1991.
       
    • SOUTH EAST
      
      Southeast Asian nations will not take a relative calm in the dispute over the South China Sea for granted, according to a draft of a statement to be issued during a summit meeting in Manila on Monday.
       
    • CHINA
      
      Guo Guangchang has stepped down from the post of chairman at Shanghai Fosun High Technology (Group) Co Ltd but remains chairman of parent Fosun International Ltd, where he will focus on broader strategy.
      
       
    • AUSTRALIA
      
      One of Australia’s largest independent publishers said it decided to delay the publication of a book which alleges widespread Chinese government influence in Australian institutions due to legal concerns.
       
    • INDONESIA
      
      The Indonesian unit of Freeport-McMoRan Inc has temporarily shut the main supply route to its Papua mine after a shooting incident, a spokesman said, amid escalating tensions between security forces and an armed rebel group in the area.
       
    • US
      
      The United States beat hosts Belarus 3-2 on Sunday to win a record-extending 18th Fed Cup title and their first in 17 years.Shelby Rogers and Coco Vandeweghe beat Aryna Sabalenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3 7-6(3) in the doubles to hand the visitors the decisive point.
       
    • PHILLIPINE
      
      Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday the South China Sea dispute, involving China and five other claimants including the Philippines, was “better left untouched”.“We have to be friends, the other hotheads would like us to confront China and the rest of the world on so many issues,” Duterte said at a ceremony on the eve of a summit of East and Southeast Asian nations in the Philippine capital.