Reuters: Most Read Articles: World shares, dollar steady in holiday lull

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World shares, dollar steady in holiday lull Dec 24th 2012, 08:40 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Italy's Monti opens door to seeking new term Sun, Dec 23 2012 Italy's Monti says would consider standing at election Sun, Dec 23 2012 Obama tries to rescue fiscal talks for post-Christmas deal Sat, Dec 22 2012 Fri, Dec 21 2012 Disarray in U.S. budget talks sends greenback higher Fri, Dec 21 2012 Analysis & Opinion After Boehner's Plan B, crafting a new plan for Republicans Essential reading: Boehner's budget 'Plan B' collapses, and more Related Video Mon, Dec 17 2012 1 of 3. A cameraman films rises in share prices at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo December 17, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Yuriko Nakao By Marc Jones LONDON | Mon Dec 24, 2012 3:40am EST LONDON (Reuters) - World stock, commodity and currency markets were steady on Monday, as the holiday lull set in across markets and offset tensions over the U.S. budget dispute. With only UK, French, Dutch and Spanish stock markets open in Europe and trading shortened ahead of Christmas celebrations, the FTSEurofirst300 .FTEU3 opened almost flat at 1138.35 points to leave the MSCI index of global stocks .MIWD00000PUS virtually unchanged at 339.87. Activity in other assets was also subdued, with spot gold steadying as investors took to the sidelines, while Brent oil eased 0.3 percent to $108.63. <O/R> Financial markets are also in limbo over $600 billion of U.S. spending cuts and tax hikes that kick in next month and threaten to hurt the economy. Lawmakers and President Barack Obama have abandoned talks to prevent this "fiscal cliff" until after Christmas. "It's all about the U.S. fiscal cliff issue," said Victor Shum, managing director at IHS Purvin & Gertz. "The chances are that we will get a deal between the White House and the Republicans, but the fact that (House of Representatives speaker John) Boehner failed to get members to support his plan is worrying." In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS inched up 0.1 percent in thin trading after falling to a near two-week low on Friday. Japanese financial markets are closed for a public holiday and will resume trading on Tuesday. Most European bond markets were also shut. In the currency market, the dollar eased 0.1 percent versus a basket of major currencies, while the euro was steady at around $1.3196. The yen, however, neared a 20-month low versus the dollar after incoming premier Shinzo Abe renewed pressure over the weekend on the Bank of Japan to adopt a 2 percent inflation target. (Additional reporting by Masayuki Kitano and Manash Goswami in Singapore; Editing by Anna Willard) Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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