* Sterling down as Northern Ireland's DUP opposes Brexit
* U.S. retail sales fall for first time in seven months
* World shares muted after choppy few days
* Turkish markets in focus before talks with U.S. over Syria
By Marc Jones
LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Sterling faltered on Thursday and
Europe's main stock markets went in and out of the red as hopes
for a smooth Brexit ran into familiar Irish border snags.
Asia earlier saw a five-day stocks rally grind to a halt as
Wednesday's disappointing U.S. retail sales data on spread
gloom, including to the dollar, though even there traders were
watching Brexit.
Ongoing Brexit talks passed various deadlines, but the main
development was Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party
saying that it could not support proposed solutions to Irish
border checks. DUP support is considered crucial for any deal.
Sterling, which had shot to five-month highs, fell as much
as 0.6% against the dollar to $1.2748 GBP=D3 and 0.5% against
the euro to as low as 86.81 pence EURGBP=D3 , before steadying
and regaining some ground. /FRX /GBP
Everything else was frozen. The pan-European STOXX 600
.STOXX barely budged, and in bond markets UK Gilts
GB10YT=RR , German Bunds DE10YT=RR and most other government
debt were treading water after a week of rising yields. .EU
"Brexit's the only show in town today"," said Lyn
Graham-Taylor, fixed income strategist at Rabobank.
He said he expected Britain to seek an extension to the Oct.
31 departure date. But investors were looking for a reason to
sell, he said, and would be studying the tone in which any
Brexit delay was sought.
"An extension with a positive tone would see a positive
selloff," he said.
TALKING TURKEY
Emerging-market stocks .MSCIEF gained for a sixth day,
their longest winning streak since early April. U.S. Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that U.S. and Chinese trade
negotiators were nailing down a Phase 1 trade deal text for
their presidents to sign next month.
But U.S. retail sales fell for the first time in seven
months, suggesting manufacturing-led weakness was spreading to
the broader economy. U.S. consumption has been one
of few bright spots in the global economy, so the data fanned
worries the Sino-U.S. trade war would ultimately tip the world
into recession.
"While the U.S. suspended a hike in tariffs, it hasn't gone
as far as scrapping the tariffs altogether, so it is hard to
expect a quick pick-up in the economy," said Yoshinori Shigemi,
global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.
The dollar index =USD was last at 98.075, recovering from
its lowest since Aug. 27 touched on Wednesday. Against the yen,
it was a flat at 108.72 JPY= after peaking at 108.90. It stood
at $1.1071 per euro EUR= , near a one-month low.
In commodities, oil prices slipped after industry data
showed a larger-than-expected build-up in U.S. crude stockpiles,
adding to concerns that global demand for oil may weaken amid
further signs of an economic slowdown. Brent crude LCOc1 futures fell 0.89% to $58.89 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 lost 1.03% to $52.81.
Turkish markets remained in focus after the country's
military advance in Syria created tensions with United States
and Europe and brought about mild sanctions. Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan is to meet with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence
and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later.
Although the U.S. pulled its troops out of the area to allow
Turkey's push, Pence and Pompeo are expected to urge Erdogan to
declare a ceasefire, which Erdogan says will "never" happen.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned of "devastating" sanctions if
discussions did not go well.
Turkish stocks were down 1.8% and the lira weakened to
5.8877 to the dollar TRY= . It has lost nearly 5% this month,
making it the world's worst performer for October.
Turkey's lira worst performing currency over the last month https://tmsnrt.rs/2OLepRJ
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