* Investors wary as trade deadline draws closer
* Nikkei flat, ASX drifts higher
* Pound wobbles as projected Conservative majority shrinks
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Tom Westbrook
SINGAPORE, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Asian stocks extended earlier
gains on Wednesday, although advances were patchy ahead of key
central bank meetings while the pound wobbled as opinion polls
pointed to a tight UK election later this week.
Investors were also cautious ahead of Washington's deadline
for new tariffs on Chinese goods this Sunday, although
stronger-than-expected Chinese loans data provided some support
for sentiment.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.5% higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI
and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO led gains with 0.7% rises.
Shanghai blue chips .CSI300 rose 0.2%.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 was unchanged. Futures pointed to
flat open in Europe STXEc1 and on Wall Street ESc1 .
Faced with conflicting reports, investors have begun to
suspect that even if tariffs due to take effect on Sunday are
delayed, it could take until 2020 before Washington and Beijing
can agree a preliminary deal to wind back their trade war.
"Every day we get a little bit of a nudge one way or the
other," said Rob Carnell, Asia-Pacific chief economist at ING in
Singapore. "You just don't know who to believe, whether these
comments have any basis in reality or whether they're a
negotiating tactic."
There was some good news form investors on China's economy
with new bank loans rebounding more than expected in November,
data showed on Tuesday, a sign that recent cuts to key lending
rates were finding some traction. Without harder news on the trade front, investors' focus
turned to the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting and its
outlook for the economy due at 2000 GMT, as well as Britain's
election and a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting.
The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady, with
investors watching for whether the central bank changes its view
of the economy and its 2% growth forecast for next year.
U.S. inflation data due at 1330 GMT, expected to hold
steady, may further reduce chances for rate cuts next year
should it surprise on the upside.
Christine Lagarde holds her first meeting and news
conference as ECB chief on Thursday.
The biggest mover among major currencies was the pound,
which shed 0.3% to hit $1.3128 after a closely watched YouGov
poll showed the ruling Conservatives tracking toward a much
slimmer majority than forecast a fortnight ago.
It recouped some losses during the day, but remained under
the eight-month high struck overnight, when investors were more
confident of a Conservative victory and expected it could end
uncertainty over Britain's exit from the European Union.
YouGov's research director, however, said the results showed
a hung parliament was possible.
"Granted, this still portrays a Tory (Conservative) majority
but given what is already priced ... the actual outcome has
resulted in some of the heat coming out of a fairly frothy
market," said Chris Weston, head of research at Melbourne
brokerage Pepperstone.
TRADE STALEMATE
While China and the United States have still to settle
differences on trade, officials from Canada, Mexico and the
United States signed a fresh overhaul of the quarter-century-old
North American trade pact. A Wall Street Journal report that said U.S. and Chinese
officials were preparing for a delay to the Dec. 15 round of
tariffs knocked bonds but did not shift stocks since it
suggested no resolution to the trade conflict. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Tuesday that
U.S. President Donald Trump would make a decision soon on
whether to enforce or suspend the tariffs.
Overnight the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI and the
S&P 500 .SPX each fell 0.1%, while the Nasdaq .IXIC dropped
by a little less.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR ,
which moves inversely to price, last stood a little higher at
1.8364%.
Elsewhere among currencies, the dollar nursed overnight
losses against the euro after German economic sentiment sharply
rose after an unexpected rebound in October exports.
The kiwi dollar NZD=D3 drifted 0.3% lower to $0.6526 as
the government trimmed its growth forecasts and announced a
long-term fiscal spending program. U.S. crude CLc1 dipped 0.5% to $58.92 a barrel, while gold
was steady XAU= at $1464.80 per ounce. O/R GOL/