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Wall St futures broadly steady, European stocks up

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Euro shows little reaction to Fitch downgrade of France

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Rate cuts seen from Fed, BoC; steady for BoE, BOJ

(Updates headline, prices)

By Wayne Cole and Amanda Cooper

SYDNEY/LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Global shares traded

steadily near record highs on Monday at the start of an

action-packed week that looks certain to see the U.S. Federal

Reserve resume its easing cycle, and perhaps leave the door wide

open to a series of cuts.

The Bank of Canada is also expected to cut rates by a

quarter point this week, while the Bank of Japan and the Bank of

England are both expected to hold rates steady.

MSCI's all-country index hovered just shy of

last week's record highs, while stocks in Europe rose

0.3%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were both

steady.

Markets are 100% priced for an easing of 25 basis points

from the Fed, taking its funds rate to 4.0-4.25%, with futures

implying just a 4% chance of 50 basis points.

Just as important will be Fed members' "dot plot"

projections for rates and guidance from Fed Chair Jerome Powell

on the extent and pace of any further easing.

Futures already have 125 basis points of cuts priced in by

late 2026, so anything less than dovish will disappoint

investors.

"The key question for the September FOMC meeting is whether

the Committee will signal that this is likely the first in a

series of consecutive cuts," said David Mericle, chief U.S.

economist at Goldman Sachs.

"We expect the statement to acknowledge the softening in the

labor market but do not expect a change to the policy guidance

or a nod to an October cut."

U.S. President Donald Trump continued his attacks on the

central bank on Sunday, saying Powell was incompetent and

hurting the housing market.

"Uncertainty surrounding the future path for Fed policy

means that some traders are now bracing for volatility around

Wednesday's Fed decision, with options markets pricing in a 1%

swing in either direction, which would be one of the biggest

daily moves in weeks," XTB research director Kathleen Brooks

said.

Meanwhile, the euro offered little reaction to Fitch's

downgrade of France.

The single currency edged up 0.1% to $1.1738, a

short way from its recent top of $1.1780. It was a touch weaker

against sterling, trading at 86.42 pence, down 0.1% on the day

.

The euro has been underpinned by a steady outlook for EU

rates, with the European Central Bank signalling last week it

was in a "good place" on policy. A host of ECB officials are due

to speak this week, including President Christine Lagarde.

Elsewhere, the dollar eased 0.2% against the yen to 147.42

, while the Norwegian crown rose to multi-month highs

against the euro and to a 2023 high against the

dollar ahead of the Norges Bank policy meeting later

this week.

CHINA DATA MISSES

In Asian markets, Chinese blue-chip shares rose

0.2%, as did Hong Kong's Hang Seng index as investors

redoubled bets on Chinese tech shares amid Sino-U.S. trade

talks.

Talks between U.S. and Chinese officials on their strained

trade ties on Monday entered a second day in Madrid. Trump said

he was still negotiating on the divestiture deadline for Chinese

short-video app TikTok.

Data released on Monday showed the Chinese economy lost some

momentum in August, with a slew of activity indicators - from

industrial output to retail sales - coming below forecasts.

Falls in property investment deepened, while home prices

declined another 0.3% in August, extending a downward trend that

has persisted since early 2023.

"Given the slowdown of the past few months, we expect that

there's a strong case for additional short-term stimulus

efforts," said Lynn Song, ING's chief economist, Greater China.

"We continue to see a high possibility for another 10bp

rate cut and 50bp reserve-requirement-ratio cut in the coming

weeks."

In the commodities market, oil prices extended gains as

investors assessed the impact of Ukrainian drone attacks on

Russian refineries that could disrupt its crude and fuel

exports.

Brent crude rose 0.2% to $67.143 a barrel. Gold,

meanwhile, was steady at $3,640 an ounce, just below last

week's all-time high of $3,673.95.

(Additional reporting by Wayne Cole and Stella Qiu; Editing by

Muralikumar Anantharaman, Jamie Freed and Christina Fincher)