Global shares, oil steady ahead of crunch ECB loan offer

European shares nudge higher in opening deals

World stocks and oil prices steadied on Thursday as investors waited to see how much help the ECB's latest funding flood could provide the euro zone and if an expected sharp hike in Russian interest rates could stabilise the rouble.

European shares nudged higher in opening deals and the dollar also halted its abrupt slide of the last few days as investors caught their breath after some sell-offs exacerbated by the year-end drop in trading volumes.

The ECB is offering banks ultra-cheap, four-year loans as part of a package of measures to add around 1 trillion euros to its balance sheet - a goal it has set with a view to pumping money into the economy to save it from deflation.

But a Reuters poll carried out this week points to only around 130 billion euro being taken. After a disappointing first round in September, it could strengthen the case for the more controversial option of sovereign bond buying.

"A low take-up (on Thursday) clearly strengthens the rationale to adopt a broad-based asset-purchase programme, or QE," said Andrew Bosomworth, a senior portfolio manager at Pimco in Munich.

The ECB will announce the results around 1015 GMT.

German bond yields were pinned at record lows before the handout, while Greek bonds also steadied, having been sent into a tailspin this week by the Greek prime minister's decision to bring forward a presidential vote.

In the currency market the euro was holding its ground. The Swiss franc climbed as its central bank kept rates steady while the dollar inched higher versus the yen, after falling roughly 3% in the past three days. 

Focus was also on a meeting of Russia's central bank later. It is expected to hike its interest rates at least a 100 basis points in a bid to halt the 40% plunge in the rouble that is threatening to throw the country into a full-blown financial crisis.

"There is no way this won't be impacting the banks and the corporates," said UBS strategist Manik Narain. "They should send a much more determined signal that they will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes."

Both the rouble and Russia stocks drifted lower in Moscow.

OIL PAUSE

Asian stocks sagged overnight after the decline in oil prices took a heavy toll on energy shares and hit Wall Street hard.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ended down 0.7% as the volatile Shanghai Composite Index shed earlier gains and fell 0.8% after regulators announced a flood of IPO approvals.

Tokyo's Nikkei lost 1%, pulling further back from 7-1/2 year highs hit at the week's start, with sentiment bruised by the rout in US stocks and the firmer yen.

Despite the recent volatility displayed by the dollar, the divergence in US monetary policy from Europe and Japan could continue to favour the greenback in the long term.

New Zealand's central bank governor said he expected to see the most quantitative easing since 2011 around the world next year, particularly as economic risks in Japan and Europe remain.

"There are question marks around Japan and certainly in Europe," Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Graeme Wheeler told a media briefing.

Brent crude ticked higher in early European trading but remained below $65 per barrel, not far from a five-year low hit in the previous session.

Comments on Wednesday by the Saudi Arabian oil minister shrugging off an output cut renewed worries of a global glut in oil that has driven the third biggest slump in oil prices ever this year.

"This is a bit of a return to a more normal pattern of trading for us," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist for CMC Markets in Sydney.