SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares are set for a soft start on Friday as global risk appetite deteriorated on worries the European Central Bank was ready to start tapering its massive stimulus, although trade was expected to be cautious ahead of big diplomatic meetings.

The recent jump in oil prices to $80 per barrel raised a lot of questions about whether or not the heady demand growth projections for this year would hold up. In fact, signs of strain quickly popped up in disparate parts of the world. But as governments move to protect their citizens from high fuel prices (and to protect their political positions), demand might not be as price sensitive as analysts tend to think.

Despite recent softening, global economic growth will remain robust at 3.1 per cent in 2018 before slowing gradually over the next two years, as advanced-economy growth decelerates and the recovery in major commodity-exporting emerging market and developing economies levels off, the World Bank said on Tuesday. 

Talk between OPEC and Russian officials of unwinding their deal to cut output has cooled overheating oil prices, at least for the moment.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve’s next interest rate increase will mark a key milestone as the era of cheap dollars draws to a close, further unsettling a U.S. bond market already rattled by rising inflation and government debt supply.