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STOXX down 0.3% CSI300 up 0.7%%

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China bond yields hit record lows

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Korea rebounds

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Australia c.bank strikes dovish tone

(Updates after early European trading)

By Tom Westbrook and Alun John

SINGAPORE/LONDON, Dec 10 (Reuters) -

European equities dipped on Tuesday, taking cues from

tech-led declines on Wall Street rather than building on

stimulus-fueled gains in China, while the Australian dollar slid

as the central bank suggested rate cuts were finally

approaching.

The main scheduled events of the week are still to come,

however, with U.S. inflation data due on Wednesday, and a

meeting by the European Central Bank on Thursday. With an ECB

rate cut all but certain,

investors will be watching

for clues about its policy path.

Also top of mind for investors in emerging markets was

Brazilian President

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

undergoing surgery in Sao Paulo to drain a bleed on his

brain linked to a fall at home in October, according to a

medical note published by the government.

MSCI's world share index was down 0.15%

with Europe's broad Stoxx 600 index off 0.3%, walking back some

of its gains the previous day when news from China's Politburo

drove hopes of more accommodative policy in the world's

second-largest economy.

State media outlet Xinhua reported on Monday that top

Communist Party officials had shifted the monetary policy stance

from "prudent" to "moderately loose" ahead of the target-setting

Central Economic Work conference this week, mirroring their

response in previous crises

Chinese bluechips,, which had closed before

Monday's announcement, rose 0.7% on Tuesday as did stocks in

Japan and Korea, the latter up 2.4% helped by authorities'

vowing measures to

stabilise markets

in a bid to calm investors spooked by political turmoil.

Though Hong Kong stocks, which had a chance to react to

the news on Monday, dipped on Tuesday, and the runaway rally in

Chinese bonds, which extended on Tuesday to drive 10-year

and 30-year yields to record lows

suggests some investors doubt the pledges are going to lift

long-run growth in China.

The Politburo meeting announcement, as it related to the

policy stance, "adopted (the) strongest tone in decades," said

Chen Shujin, head of China financial and property research at

Jefferies.

However, she added: "We still see the market repeating

the pattern from the beginning of the year, driven by

expectation on potential stimulus, and dragged by

lower-than-expected policies."

Overnight, the S&P 500 fell 0.6% and futures

dipped 0.07% in the European morning.

A 2.5% drop for chip titan Nvidia ( NVDA ), which edged a

fraction lower still in after-hours trade following China

opening an antitrust investigation, weighed on the mood.

CENTRAL BANKS

Elsewhere, the Reserve Bank of Australia, which has yet to

join the global rate cutting cycle, left its cash rate unchanged

at 4.35% as expected.

However, the Australian dollar fell 0.7% to $0.6394

as Governor Michele Bullock left the door open to a cut in

interest rates as early as February.

"The currency must now count on soft U.S. CPI tomorrow for

buyers to return," said Kenneth Broux, head of corporate

research FX and rates at Societe Generale.

That U.S. price data is the most important piece of

global economic data this week. It is the last scheduled event

that could possibly disrupt market expectations that the Federal

Reserve will cut rates at its meeting next week.

Core inflation is expected to hold at 3.3% for November,

and an in-line reading should be no impediment to an easing.

Traders are also expecting rate cuts in Europe and Canada

later this week and are leaning towards a 50 basis point cut in

Switzerland as authorities may like to tap the brakes on the

franc's relentless rise against the euro.

The euro traded at $1.0529, down a touch, and

0.9264 francs. The Japanese yen, which was the

best-performing G10 currency in November as expectations have

grown for a December rate hike in Japan, was a touch weaker at

151.45 per dollar.

Positioning data shows speculators flipped to a long yen

position last week for the first time in more than

a month.

Oil prices slipped on Tuesday as concerns eased about the

potential regional fallout from Syrian President Bashar

al-Assad's overthrow, but China news gave some support.

Brent crude futures were flat at $72.11 a barrel.

Gold nudged up to $2,664 an ounce while bitcoin

fetched $97,526.