GLOBAL MARKETS-Risk rally hits pause button as markets await trade signals

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Ritvik Carvalho
LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Global stock markets steadied
after a three-day rally on Wednesday as traders continued to
watch incoming economic data and awaited new developments from
U.S.-China trade talks.
MSCI's All Country World Index .MIWD00000PUS was flat on
the day, after rallying 1.3% since Friday.
World stock markets have rallied on a scaling-back of
recession bets amid rising optimism about a U.S.-China trade
deal this month and as global business surveys indicate
tariff-hit manufacturing sentiment has troughed.
France's benchmark 10-year bond yield turned positive on
Wednesday for the first time since July, in a further sign that
entrenched pessimism in world bond markets is abating. EUR/GVD
Investors said stock markets were consolidating gains made
over the last three sessions as focus shifted to lingering
concerns over the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks.
Traders and investors hope a preliminary Sino-U.S. trade
pact will roll back at least some of the punitive tariffs that
Washington and Beijing have imposed on each other's goods, but
it is still uncertain when or where U.S. President Donald Trump
will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign the agreement.

Some suggested markets had already discounted a lot of good
news.
"Optimism about a trade deal between the US and China has
given a lift to global equities," wrote Simona Gambrani at
Capital Economics in a note to clients.
"But with a lot of good news already discounted and global
economic growth likely to remain sluggish, we suspect that any
further upside for stock prices will be limited."
European stocks edged higher, boosted by gains in financial
stocks as investors parsed a mixed bag of earnings reports. The
pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was higher by 0.1%.
.EU Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index was flat, while Germany's
DAX .GDAXI and France's CAC 40 .FCHI was up 0.2% each.
Incoming economic data continued to show signs of
improvement.
German industrial orders rose more than expected in
September, offering some hope for manufacturers in Europe's
biggest economy as they head into the fourth quarter after a
tough spell.
Euro zone business activity expanded slightly faster than
expected last month but remained close to stagnation, according
to a survey whose forward-looking indicators suggest what little
growth there is could dissipate. Earlier in Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS eased 0.12%. Australian
shares .AXJO were down 0.55%, Chinese stocks .CSI300 fell
0.25% and Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 rose 0.21%.
In currencies, the dollar dipped against a basket of
currencies, down 0.2%. .DXY The euro was higher by 0.1% at
$1.1088. EUR=
The pound traded 0.1% higher to the dollar at $1.2887.
A survey showed small British manufacturing firms are at
their most pessimistic since just after the Brexit referendum in
2016 as they face political uncertainty at home and trade wars
abroad. In an outcome that could offer clues as to how next year's
U.S. presidential election may unfold, U.S. Democrats claimed an
upset win in Kentucky on Tuesday and seized control of the state
legislature in Virginia. Oil prices fell , pulled down by a larger-than-expected
build in U.S. crude stocks, after gaining for three sessions on
expectations of an easing in U.S.-China trade tensions. U.S.
crude CLc1 fell 0.72% to $56.82 per barrel and Brent crude
LCOc1 fell 0.92% to $62.38 per barrel.