* Uncertainty around Brexit and stimulus keeps investors
sidelined
* ECB expected to expand and extend stimulus
* Uncertainly remains over U.S. stimulus
By Marc Jones
LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Bets on more European Central
Bank stimulus kept Europe's main stock markets and the euro
steady on Thursday, but Britain's pound saw its biggest drop in
almost a month after overnight Brexit talks turned sour.
It had been a mixed session for Asia amid a surge in
coronavirus cases and the ejection of some Chinese stocks from
S&P Dow Jones' indices, so there was little surprise Europe
struggled to add to recent highs.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was flat, though
London's FTSE 100 .FTSE did score its eighth straight gain as
the Brexit uncertainty pushed the pound down 0.7% to $1.33 and
90.86 pence per euro. /FRX
European Union and British leaders gave themselves until the
end of the weekend to seal a new trade pact, with some $1
trillion in annual trade at risk of tariffs if they can't reach
a deal by Dec. 31, when transition arrangements end.
"There's still clearly some scope to keep talking, but there
are significant points of difference that remain," Foreign
Secretary Dominic Raab told BBC TV. "(On) Sunday, they need to
take stock and decide on the future of negotiations."
For the ECB, economists expect its 1.35 trillion-euro PEPP
stimulus plan to be expanded by at least 500 billion euros and
its duration extended by six months to the end of 2022, with
risks skewed towards even more. The bank will announce its policy decision at 1245 GMT,
followed by ECB chief Christine Lagarde's 1330 GMT news
conference. Traders will be also listening to what she says
about the euro's near 14% rise since March.
"The critical element is that there has been an impact on
(euro zone) growth recently," said Shoqat Bunglawala, head of
global portfolio solutions for EMEA & APAC at Goldman Sachs
Asset Management, referring to the second wave of lockdowns. "So
we would expect to see some further support.
Euro zone government bond yields - which move inversely to
price - continued to fall. Italian 10-year yields IT10YT=RR
fell to a record low at 0.53%. Spain and Portugal's hit 0.013%
and -0.022% respectively. GVD/EUR
TECH GLITCH
In Asian trading, MSCI's broadest index for the region
.MIAP00000PUS eased 0.4%, with Japan's Nikkei .N225 ending
0.2% lower. Both are up more than 60% from March lows.
S&P 500 futures EScv1 were 0.1% higher after the Nasdaq
.IXIC dropped 2% on Wednesday, when U.S. regulators filed
lawsuits again Facebook FB.O alleging the company used its
dominance to buy or crush rivals, harming competition.
S&P Dow Jones Indices then said it would remove 10 Chinese
companies from its equities indices and several others from its
bond indices overnight. It followed a move by Donald Trump's
outgoing administration to ban U.S. investors from buying
certain Chinese securities.
U.S. lawmakers were also unable to sort out disagreements
over aid to state and local governments that are holding up a
broader spending package, though they did at least approve a
stop-gap government funding bill. "We've risen so far so fast that it's making investors
cautious," said Michael McCarthy, chief strategist at
stockbroker CMC Markets in Sydney.
"The fall in tech stocks was a bit of a concern, given that
they've risen in all market weather over the last six weeks, so
to see them come off might signal that we're looking at a short-
term corrective move."
Elsewhere, faith in the recovery appeared to be holding up.
Brent oil futures LCOc1 were up 0.8% at $49.23 a barrel and
U.S. crude CLc1 was up 0.9% at $45.96 a barrel. O/R Gold
XAU= nursed losses at $1,839 an ounce. GOL/
"We think the market has certainly got confidence in the
sustainability of this recovery," Goldman's Bunglawala said.
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