(Updates market moves)
* Europe, S&P500 futures gain after Mnuchin confirms trade
talks
* Euro zone data weigh on euro, deepen anxiety about economy
* Sterling rises after parliament suspension ruled unlawful
* World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Marc Jones
LONDON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Rekindled U.S.-China trade hopes
supported share markets on Tuesday, while Britain's pound was
whipsawed by another twist in the Brexit drama as the UK's top
court dramatically overruled the government's suspension of
parliament.
There was more glum data from Germany to contend with too,
but Monday's confirmation that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin's and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would meet
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in two weeks' time bolstered
spirits.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX and Wall Street
futures .ESc1 were both up as much as 0.3% .EU .N and
Germany's bond yields also steadied after Monday's dour PMI data
had triggered their biggest fall since June. GVD/EUR
"A perceived lull in U.S.-China trade tensions has eased
market fears about an economic downturn," a group of BlackRock's
investment strategists wrote in a note.
Currency market moves were mostly small-scale, with one
notable exception - the pound.
Traders had waited for a Supreme Court ruling on UK Prime
Minister's Boris Johnson five-week suspension of parliament -- a
move known as prorogation in Westminster speak -- and when it
came it was unanimous and blunt. The move was "unlawful".
Sterling initially climbed as high $1.2487 GBP=D4 on the
view it would help prevent the UK being bundled towards a
'no-deal' Brexit at the end of October. It then lost traction
though and spent the next few hours bobbing between $1.2480 and
$1.2460.
"I wasn't surprised to see it hop higher but I also wasn't
surprised to see cable (pound vs the dollar) run out of steam
ahead of $1.25," said TD Securities' European head of currency
strategy Ned Rumpeltin.
Johnson is now likely to head to his Conservative party's
annual conference at the weekend and rally his troops in
preparation for a likely national election which will be a
bitter fight over Brexit.
"He is going to have to rally his base and he is going to do
that around hard Brexit," Rumpeltin said. "That will be a moment
of clarity for the FX market... It will look at the polling and
the Conservatives are leading in the polls."
GOOD TO TALK
While trade talks remained the primary focus, U.S. investors
were also waiting on closely-followed consumer confidence data
due at 10:00 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) which is expected to remain
robust.
Monday has seen a mixed batch of U.S. economic surveys but
still S&P 500 .SPX had remained within striking distance of
its July all-time high. .N
Overnight, MSCI's broadest regional Asia share index
.MIAP00000PUS inched up 0.1%, led by 0.6% gains in mainland
Chinese shares .CSI300 after the vice head of China's state
planner said Beijing will step up efforts to stabilise growth.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 ended up 0.2% after a market holiday
on Monday and as the yen traded at 107.62 yen per dollar JPY= ,
after reaching two-week highs of 107.32 the previous day.
"The comments (from Mnuchin on China trade talks) gave a
little bit of boost to sentiment, but markets are still not that
optimistic, either," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist
at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
"It seems there have been a lot going on behind the scenes,"
he said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump's questioning
a decision by his top trade negotiators to ask Chinese officials
to delay a planned trip to U.S. farming regions. That cancellation was seen by markets as a sign all is not
well in the U.S.-China talks and had helped send share prices
lower on Friday.
Among the main commodities, gold held its ground and oil
prices dipped on expectations that the slowing global economy
will keep demand subdued. O/R
Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 40 cents to $64.37 a barrel
by 0624 GMT. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 were down 33
cents to $58.31.
"The demand side of the equation is back in focus," said
Michael McCarthy, senior market analyst at CMC Markets in
Sydney, pointing to sluggish manufacturing numbers in leading
economies in Europe as well as Japan.
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