* Trump calls long-awaited stimulus bill "a disgrace"
* Sterling rises on hopes of Brexit trade deal
* Oil hit by unexpected rise in U.S. crude oil stocks
*
By Carolyn Cohn
LONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - World stocks ticked up on
Wednesday, as a last-minute intervention by President Donald
Trump dampened positive sentiment over a U.S. stimulus deal,
while the pound rose on the possibility of a Brexit agreement.
European stocks .STOXX also got a lift from the Brexit
deal hopes, rising 0.35%, though Britain's
internationally-focused FTSE 100 index .FTSE was down 0.15%.
Oil prices dropped after an industry report showed an
unexpected rise in U.S. crude oil inventories. O/R
In a video posted on Twitter, Trump said a stimulus bill,
agreed after months of wrangling in Congress, was "a disgrace"
and that he wanted to increase "ridiculously low" $600 checks
for individuals to $2,000. "Trump has derailed U.S. fiscal hopes, refusing to sign the
$900 billion pandemic relief bill that was passed after a
long-drawn stalemate between Democrats and Republicans,"
analysts at Mizuho wrote in a note to clients.
"And so, hopes for an unambiguous "Santa rally" have been
tragically hijacked."
Some traders said Trump's push for higher stimulus could
lead to a spending increase.
The bill could be amended if the congressional leadership
wants to do so, and if they don't, Trump's choices are to sign
the bill into law, veto it, or do nothing and let it become law.
The stimulus funds are needed as the U.S. recovery stalls
and hospitals struggle to cope with a nationwide spike in
coronavirus infections at the same time as an even more
contagious variant of the disease spreads quickly in Britain.
The possibility of a delay to such long-awaited and
hard-fought spending plans sent S&P 500 futures ESc1 down as
far as 1% below the index's Tuesday close, but they recovered to
trade 0.22% higher.
The MSCI world stock index .MIWD00000PUS rose 0.23%,
though it was trading more than 1% below record highs struck
last week. The index is eyeing gains of over 12% for 2020, as
trillions of dollars in stimulus have outweighed pandemic pain
this year.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
.MIAPJ0000PUS snapped three days of declines with a 0.6% rise,
led by a jump in electric vehicle stocks in South Korea and
China after LG Electronics announced a production deal.
Tech and healthcare stocks pushed Japan's Nikkei .N225
0.3% higher and Australian shares rose 0.7%, though volumes were
light. .T .AX
WEDNESDAY DEAL?
Britain and the European Union are nearing a Dec 31 deadline
for a Brexit transition period and have yet to agree on a trade
deal.
ITV's political editor said in a late-night tweet that
separate sources had raised the possibility of the two sides
striking a deal on Wednesday. "Sterling is off its lows - there's a little twinkle of
optimism around that deal," said Jane Foley, head of FX strategy
at Rabobank.
However, a British minister said on Wednesday that serious
issues remained unresolved. The minister also said he hoped trucks would start crossing
into France again on Wednesday after Paris lifted its ban on
freight coming from Britain because of the new coronavirus
variant. Sterling GBP= rose 0.4% against the dollar above $1.34
and strengthened against the euro to 90.82 pence EURGBP= .
The dollar index =USD was flat at 90.463 and the euro was
also steady against the dollar EUR= , while euro zone bonds
were little changed GVD/EUR .
Brent crude futures LCOc1 dropped 0.6% to $49.78 a barrel
and U.S. crude futures CLc1 fell 0.74% to $46.68. O/R
Gold XAU= ralled 0.5% to $1,868 an ounce. GOL/
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Asset performance in US dollar terms https://tmsnrt.rs/33TWwY1
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