GLOBAL MARKETS-Pound and stocks flop as Brexit fears resurface

GLOBAL MARKETS-Pound and stocks flop as Brexit fears resurface

* European stocks drop off record highs

* Pound skids 1%as hard Brexit fears re-emerge

* Asia, emerging market shares at highest since June 2018

* World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

By Marc Jones

LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - European stocks skidded off

record highs and sterling dropped more than 1% on Thursday, as

reports that Britain's prime minister was ready to play rough in

Brexit talks brought December's cross-market rally to a halt.

U.S.-China trade optimism and reassuring Chinese economic

data had driven Asia and emerging market stocks to 18-month

highs overnight, but green immediately turned red when London,

Frankfurt and Paris opened. .EU

Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE , which had seen its best day in

nearly a year on Monday, dropped 0.2% on reports that Prime

Minister Boris Johnson would use his control of parliament to

stop any extension of the Brexit transition period beyond 2020.

The news knocked the domestically focused mid-cap index

.FTMC as much 1.7% lower, while the pound GBP=D3 fell 1% to

back below $1.32 and nearly 2% under Thursday and Friday's

post-election highs of just over $1.35. /FRX

A profit warning from consumer goods giant Unilever ULVR.L

that sent its shares down nearly 6% also helped push the broader

European STOXX 600 .STOXX down 0.6%. .EU

"So much for pragmatism," J.P. Morgan's Malcolm Barr said,

referring to the reports of Johnson's hard-line Brexit stance.

"We have put the risk of a no-deal end to the transition at 25%,

a number we regard as uncomfortably high."

The resurgence of uncertainty over Britain's departure from

the European Union on Jan. 31 and their future relationship

meant Wall Street was expected to give back some ground when New

York reopens and put safety trades back in play.

Most 10-year European bond yields were around two basis

points lower. UK GB10YT=RR and German 10-year yields

DE10YT=RR dipped to 0.77% and -0.29% respectively, compared to

1.85% for U.S. Treasuries. GVD/EUR

Britain's political wrangling had not kept Asian stocks from

joining a global rally overnight, however, as more U.S.

officials confirmed phase one of a trade deal with China was

done, although the details remain unpublished.

The preliminary deal between Washington and Beijing reached

last week will double U.S. exports to China, White House adviser

Larry Kudlow told Fox News on Monday. The United States will

also reduce some tariffs on Chinese goods under the agreement.

Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul all gained more than 1% and

MSCI's all-country index .MIWD00000PUS set a record high,

putting its gains for 2019 at almost 23%, its best year in a

decade and the fourth-best year ever.

"People are looking to close the year on a good note," said

Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank

in Singapore. "I think that these are far more opportunistic

than they are conviction trades, so they tend to be a little bit

more prone to taking profits."

PALLADIUM

The Australian dollar AUD=D3 was another currency under

pressure after the minutes of this month's RBA central bank

meeting suggested it might cut interest rates again when it next

meets in February. The Reserve Bank of Australia has already cut three times

since June, taking rates to a record low of 0.75%. "Members

agreed it would be concerning if there were a deterioration in

the outlook," the bank's December minutes showed.

Elsewhere, investors were staying broadly optimistic over

the tentative U.S.-Sino trade deal struck last week which

fuelled gains in emerging market currencies and capped the

Japanese yen JPY= and Swiss franc CHF= .

Oil was nearing three-month highs in anticipation of growing

demand from the world's biggest economies. Brent crude LCOc1

ticked up for a fourth day at $65.52 per barrel, while gold

XAU= held just below $1,480 per ounce. O/R GOL/

Palladium, which is widely used in catalytic converters for

car and truck exhausts, remained the real focus, though, as it

sped towards $2,000 an ounce for the first time. "Supply is tight in the palladium market and when you're

adding the speculation about a potential pick-up in demand due

to recovery in the global economy, you have a perfect storm of

bullish news continuing to keep it supported," Saxo Bank analyst

Ole Hansen said.

Global markets in 2019 https://tmsnrt.rs/2EsQgc9

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