* MSCI Asia ex-Japan -0.3%
* European shares choppy in morning trading after Asia slips
* China GDP grows 6.0% in third quarter, near three-decade
low
* Sterling gives back gains after Brexit deal rally
* World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Marc Jones
LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - World stocks slipped after China
posted its weakest growth rate in nearly three decades on
Friday, while the dollar was set for its worst week in almost
four months having been pummelled by pound and euro Brexit
rallies.
China's economy grew a slightly less-than-expected 6% in the
third quarter, leaving traders hoping that the swift stimulus
Beijing and the major global central banks have provided in
recent weeks will fend off a more serious downturn. Main European bourses fell a modest 0.1%-0.3% .EU after
Asia had been led lower by a 1.2% slump in top Chinese shares
.CSI300 . There was also a sharp reverse in car shares .SXAP
after a Renault profit warning. .EU "You can't get away from the fact that China is slowing, but
it's not slowing more than we thought," said head of global
macro strategy at State Street Global Markets Michael Metcalfe.
"We know that Q4 is going to be a soft patch, but to a
degree policymakers are ahead of this, so as long as we don't
have an escalation of the trade war now I think markets can
handle it."
In currencies, sterling was taking a breather at $1.2850
GBP= , having scored its best six-day streak in near 30 years
on Thursday after Britain and the EU sealed a new Brexit deal.
Doubts about whether the deal will be approved in the
British parliament were still sky high, though, with swathes of
lawmakers, who are either reluctant about Brexit or worried the
deal is not a clean enough break, due to debate the deal in a
rare Saturday sitting.
"Whatever was agreed last night with the EU still has to go
through the British parliament... the uncertainty surrounding
that still hasn't changed one iota," said James McGlew,
executive director of corporate stockbroking at Argonaut.
The euro rested at $1.1125 EUR=EBS , not far from $1.1140,
its highest since Aug. 26. The dollar remained weak too having
seen this week's weak retail sales data and more U.S. interest
rate cut talk contribute to its biggest weekly slide since June.
.DXY
EARNINGS
Helping to alleviate immediate trade war worries, China had
said on Thursday that it hoped to reach a phased agreement in
its trade dispute with the United States as soon as possible.
Investors were also encouraged by upbeat earnings from
Netflix NFLX.O and Morgan Stanley MS.N , but poor results
from International Business Machines Corp IBM.N and weak U.S.
economic data weighed.
Housing starts, industrial production and mid-Atlantic
factory output all fell short of economists' expectations.
Reflecting the cautious mood, the safe-haven yen
strengthened, with the dollar falling 0.13% to 108.51. The yield
on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR edged up though
to 1.764%, compared with a U.S. close of 1.755% on Thursday.
Euro zone bond yields were also nudging up with German Bund
yields holding at -0.40%, the highest since early August.
DE10YT=RR
The Bund yield is now up 16 bps since Irish and British
leaders said on Oct. 10 they saw a path to a Brexit deal, which
boosted risk appetite and weakened demand for safe-haven assets
like bonds.
In commodities, oil fell on the China data, with Brent crude
LCOc1 easing 0.52% to $59.60 and U.S. crude CLc1 dropping
0.19% to $53.83.
"The (China) GDP print has weighed on short-term sentiment
and we have seen regional stock markets and oil contracts edge
lower because of that," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market
analyst for Asia Pacific at brokerage OANDA.
Crude demand growth tends to track economic growth trends,
but Halley said China's need for oil would not recede any time
soon.
Underlining that view, Chinese official data released on
Friday showed robust refinery throughput in September, rising
9.4% from a year earlier to 56.49 million tonnes, on increases
from new refineries and some independent refiners resuming
operations after maintenance.
Gold XAU= dipped to $1,488 per ounce. GOL/
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