* Trade deal sends stocks higher, but details awaited
* Asia ex-Japan index at highest since June 2018
* Pound slips as hard Brexit fears re-emerge
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Tom Westbrook
SYDNEY, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Santa came early to Asia's stock
markets on Tuesday as trade deal optimism, positive economic
signals in China and Wall Street's rally sent shares to an
18-month high, while familiar Brexit worries knocked sterling.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS rose 1% to its highest since June 2018. Japan's
Nikkei .N225 touched its firmest in more than year, while
markets from Shanghai .CSI300 to Seoul .KS11 and Hong Kong
.HSI all rose by more than a percentage point.
Oil hovered near three-month highs in anticipation of
growing demand from the world's biggest economies. O/R
Yet with no fresh news on the trade front, the euphoria did
not extend into the debt or currency markets, where movements
were slight.
Futures also pointed to a flat open in Europe and a steady
start to Tuesday in New York. FDXc1 ESc1 FTSE futures
FFIc1 were down 0.3%.
"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," he added.
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. It is not yet signed, and the Chinese side have been more
circumspect in their praise, but U.S. Trade Representative
Robert Lighthizer said over the weekend it is "totally done". At
the same time, Monday data showed growth in China's industrial
and retail sectors beat expectations in November. The three major U.S. stock indexes rose modestly, but posted
record closing highs. So did the pan-European STOXX 600 index
.STOXX . .N .EU
In Britain, the FTSE 100 .FTSE had its biggest daily gain
in almost a year. But after the closing bell some familiar fears
returned. ITV reported Prime Minister Boris Johnson would use his huge
majority to reinstate a hard deadline for quitting the European
Union at the end of next year, again raising the spectre of a
chaotic "hard" Brexit. Sterling GBP= fell 0.6%, before recovering slightly.
WHAT'S ACTUALLY IN IT?
Elsewhere currency markets were more pensive in the absence
of many of the fine details of the trade deal. The U.S dollar
recouped some of Monday's losses, though moves were modest.
The yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries US10YT=RR
bounced a little overnight, but drifted lower in Asian trade to
1.8644%.
"Well, yeah, they've agreed a 'phase one' deal, but what's
actually in it?" said Westpac analyst Imre Speizer.
"Equity markets just want to rally, so they'll pick on
anything that seems remotely positive, but the other markets are
maybe a little more thoughtful about exactly what's going on."
Several Chinese officials told Reuters the wording of the
agreement remained a delicate issue and care was needed to
ensure expressions used in text did not re-escalate tensions.
Still, trade optimism kept the Chinese yuan on the strong
side of 7 per dollar CNH= .
The Australian dollar AUD=D3 drifted lower as minutes of
the central bank's December policy meeting showed it was open to
monetary easing in February if the outlook deteriorated.
Brent crude LCOc1 held steady at $65.32 per barrel, after
climbing on Monday. Spot gold XAU= was flat at $1,475.26 per
ounce.
"As long as volatility remains low, momentum is probably
continuing, despite the amazing year to date gains," said Kay
Van-Petersen, global macro strategist at Saxo Capital Markets in
Singapore. "The risk is that nobody thinks that there's anything
left for the year, they're all thinking 2020."
(Editing by Lincoln Feast and Jacqueline Wong)