Global FX DATA:

• • • ASIAN MARKET
      
      Asian shares wobbled on Friday as investors braced for U.S. tariffs against China, while the euro flirted with two-week lows after a cautious European Central Bank indicated it would not raise interest rates for some time.
      
       
    • GOLD
      
      Gold discounts in India were at their widest in nine months this week as higher domestic prices tempered retail purchases, while buying in other Asian centres remained subdued amid a lack of significant momentum in global prices.
      
       
  • • OIL
      
       Oil prices were little changed in early Asian trade on Friday, as investors eyed a key OPEC meeting in Vienna and Saudi Arabia and Russia, architects of a producer deal to cut output, indicated they want production to rise.
       
    • INDIA
      
       India’s monsoons, which hit the southern coast late last month, are expected to make slow progress over the next two weeks and delay the onset of crucial rains over north-western parts of the country.
       
    • DOLLAR
      
      The euro on Friday was headed for its worst weekly loss in 19 months after a cautious European Central Bank signalled it will keep interest rates at record lows well into next year.
       
    • CRYPTO CURRENCY
      
      There is evidence that tether, a digital currency pegged to the U.S. dollar, may have been used to manipulate the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to a research paper released by the University of Texas.

    • SEOUL
      
      Tough sanctions will remain on North Korea until its complete denuclearisation, the U.S. secretary of state said on Thursday, apparently contradicting the North’s view that the process agreed at this week’s summit would be phased and reciprocal.

    • CHINA
      
      China’s navy carried out drills in the South China Sea to simulate fending off an aerial attack, state media said on Friday, as China and the United States trade barbs over who is responsible for heightened tensions in the disputed waterways.

    • JAPAN
      
      The Bank of Japan maintained its ultra-loose monetary policy on Friday and downgraded its view on inflation in a fresh blow to its long-held 2 percent price goal, further complicating the central bank’s path to rolling back its crisis-era stimulus.

ECB MEETING

• The ECB said it will end its massive bond purchase scheme by the end of this year, taking its biggest step towards dismantling crisis-era stimulus.
• The euro briefly spiked to a one-month high of $1.1853 following the announcement.
• Euro bulls were soon in retreat as the ECB also indicated that it would keep interest rates steady at least through the summer of 2019, reflecting the uncertainties hanging over the euro zone economy.
• “The euro showed such a big reaction to the ECB meeting as its stance came in sharp contrast to the Federal Reserve, which had struck a hawkish tone just the day before,”