GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, government debt flat as U.S.-China trade deadline looms

(Adds oil, gold settlement prices)
* Markets wary of Dec. 15 tariff deadline
* European stocks down for second day
* German ZEW sentiment higher than expected
* Fed, ECB meetings eyed

By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Government debt and global
stock markets held steady on Tuesday as uncertainty kept risk
appetite in check days ahead of the Dec. 15 deadline for a new
round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports.
Investors were again torn between remarks that suggested a
positive outcome to the 17-month U.S.-Sino trade war but also
indicated a deal might not come until after U.S. presidential
elections in November 2020.
Prospects for an initial "phase one" trade deal look good,
acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said at a Wall
Street Journal event. But Mulvaney also repeated U.S. President Donald Trump's
assertion that he did not feel pressure to get a trade agreement
signed with Beijing before the election.
Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in
Chatham, New Jersey, said the mixed signals were typical, but he
also sounded a note of caution.
"They're going to posture one way then posture the other
way, and that's classic negotiation," Saluzzi said. "That's
fine, we can all wait for that. But until you see the actual
news, we really don't know."
Stocks meandered near break-even. MSCI's gauge of stock
performance in 49 countries .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.04%.
Shares in Europe closed lower while stocks on Wall Street
edged higher after Canada, Mexico and the United States agreed
to a fresh overhaul of their quarter-century-old regional trade
pact known as NAFTA, Saluzzi said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.51 points, or
0%, to 27,910.11, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.62 points, or 0.02%,
to 3,135.34 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 2.38 points,
or 0.03%, to 8,624.20.
Emerging market stocks lost 0.09%.
Investors were also awaiting the outcome of this week's U.S.
and European central bank meetings. The Federal Reserve is
widely expected to hold interest rates steady after cutting them
three times this year.
U.S. Treasury yields rose after The Wall Street Journal
reported that U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators were planning
to delay $156 billion in U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports
scheduled to take effect on Dec. 15. Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 1/32 in price to
yield 1.8346%.
Germany's benchmark Bund yield DE10YT=RR inched up to
-0.29% after the ZEW research institute said its monthly index
on economic morale among investors rose to 10.7 from -2.1 a
month earlier, much higher than forecasts. The dollar slipped against the euro on the
better-than-expected German economic sentiment survey.
The dollar index .DXY fell 0.22%, with the euro EUR= up
0.28% to $1.1093.
The Japanese yen JPY= weakened 0.16% versus the greenback
at 108.74 per dollar.
Oil prices inched up as the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries' deal with associated producers last week to
deepen output cuts in 2020 provided a floor for prices, but the
U.S.-China trade tensions clouded the outlook for demand.
Brent crude LCOc1 settled up 9 cents at $64.34 a barrel
and West Texas Intermediate oil CLc1 gained 22 cents to settle
at $59.24 a barrel.
Gold got a further lift from dollar weakness and the
uncertainties surrounding trade talks. USD/
U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled up 0.2% at $1,468.10 an
ounce.