* Asian, European shares inch higher on trade deal optimism
* Investors remain weary amid mixed messages from Trump
* Oil rally runs out of steam as OPEC meeting kicks off
* Pound romps high on hopes election will allow smooth
Brexit
By Marc Jones and Karin Strohecker
LONDON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Stocks gained amid trade war
headlines on Thursday, while sterling rose to its highest in
more than two years against the euro on hopes next week's UK
election will lead to a smooth Brexit.
Belief a trade deal would be struck stemmed from a Bloomberg
report on Wednesday that China and the U.S. were close to phase
one of a deal and from U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks
that talks were going "very well". Trump has said earlier a deal
might have to wait until after U.S. elections in November 2020.
If no agreement is reached soon, the next important date is
Dec. 15, when Washington is scheduled to impose more tariffs on
Chinese goods.
"People are a bit exhausted of the pump and dump around the
trade deal news flow," said Saxo Bank's head of FX strategy,
John Hardy.
Euro Stoxx 50 futures .STXEc1 and London's FTSE futures
.FFIc1 rose 0.1% in early trade. The pan-European STOXX 600
.STOXX was up 0.1%, mainly driven by utilities, healthcare and
real estate shares.
Luxury stocks rose after Bloomberg reported that Gucci-owner
Kering PRTP.PA held "exploratory" talks about a potential deal
with Italy's Moncler MONC.MI .
The trade-sensitive German blue-chip index .GDAXI was
little changed. Futures were suggesting U.S. stock markets would
open higher.
POUNDS SHINES
While the dollar softened against most major currencies,
sterling rallied to a seven-month high against the dollar and a
two-and-a-half-year high against the euro, extending recent
gains on growing expectations next week's general election will
not result in a hung parliament.
"With only a week to go until the UK election, the Tory
party still hold a sizeable lead of around 10 percentage points
over Labour," MUFG analaysts told clients in a note. "It has
made market participants increasingly confident to price in a
Tory majority and an end to the deadlock in parliament."
Sterling gained 0.3% against both currencies as high as
$1.3146 GBP=D3 and 84.31 per euro.
"It is getting quite aggressive here and shows people are
pricing in a very smooth Brexit, but that also enhances any
shock if there is a hung parliament," said Saxo Bank's Hardy.
However, British fund manager M&G Investments MNG.L
suspended dealing in its flagship UK property fund, blaming
Brexit uncertainty and weakness in retailing. The yen JPY= weakened, ceding some of the previous day's
gains as positive signs about the trade dispute hurt demand for
safe-haven currencies.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR
fell to 1.7603%, retracing some of the gains made the day
before. Most European government yields nudged higher. GVD/EUR
Oil markets ran out of steam following a 3% rally overnight.
Brent traded at $62.99 a barrel and U.S. crude CLc1 slipped
0.2% to $58.3 a barrel.
However, prices may find support if the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries and fellow producers, including
Russia, approve deeper cuts in crude output when they meet in
Vienna on Thursday and Friday.
HSBC chart on Asia earnings Dec 5, 2019 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RkYIC0
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