Stocks stall ahead of ECB and US data Thursday 0835 GMT. Stocks are struggling for momentum and the euro is inching higher as US and eurozone monetary policy remains in focus. Industrial commodities are mixed - copper up 0.1 per cent to $3.24 a pound, Brent crude down 31 cents to $104.93 a barrel - as gold falls $2 to $1,317 an ounce. The dollar index and Treasury prices are barely changed. The FTSE All-World equity index is down 0.1 per cent as Europe's Stoxx 600 sees a 0.1 per cent loss and after the Asia-Pacific region fell 0.5 per cent. US index futures show the S&P 500 slipping 4 points to 1,766, leaving the benchmark 6 points below its record close as Wall Street prepares for Twitter's IPO. Investors face a potentially crucial few sessions that may determine the market's psyche going into the traditionally bullish final weeks of the year. Central bank strategy is in the spotlight. The euro is up 8 pips to $1.3518 ahead of the European Central Bank's decision on interest rates, due at 1245 GMT. The ECB is expected to hold the main borrowing cost at 0.5 per cent. But speculation of a rate cut has intensified of late after data showed that eurozone inflation fell to 0.7 per cent in October. Forty-five minutes later, traders will receive news on the health of the world's biggest economy when US third-quarter GDP data are published. The US is expected to have expanded by 2 per cent year-on-year in the three months to the end of October, down from 2.5 per cent in the previous quarter. Weaker growth could inspire the Federal Reserve to delay tapering its $85bn a month monetary stimulus, though investors will recognise that a more up to date economic gauge will be provided when the non-farm payrolls report is released on Friday. A net 125,000 jobs are expected to have been created in October and the unemployment rate is seen nudging up to 7.3 per cent, according to analysts" forecasts compiled by Reuters. Such a report is likely to encourage those traders who think the supposed investment sweet spot of relatively meek economic activity coupled with extended Fed largesse can help prolong the bull run for stocks while supporting bond prices. The 10-year Treasury yield, which moves inversely to prices, is up just 1 basis point on the day to 2.65 per cent, while equivalent duration Bunds are fractionally firmer at 1.75 per cent. The dollar index, which at the end of October fell to an 8-month low of 79.0 after some weak data convinced traders the Fed would stay "looser for longer," is hardly changed on the session at 80.47. Earlier in Asia, markets continued to show nervousness ahead of the weekend's meeting of China's Communist party hierarchy, whose discussions are likely to include potential economic reforms, which some investors fear could curb the flow of credit and burst the nation's property bubble, leading to slower growth. The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.5 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded 0.7 per cent lower as financial and consumer stocks led the declines. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 0.8 per cent and Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2 per cent, the latter following news that Australia's unemployment rate held steady at 5.7 per cent, while employers added only 1,100 jobs in October - well below economists" consensus expectations of 10,000 new positions. The Australian dollar is lower against its US counterpart, falling 0.4 per cent to US$0.9484 as traders speculate the jobs report makes it less likely the Reserve Bank of Australia will raise the interest rate from 2.5 per cent. Paul Bloxham, HSBC economist, said: "We expect the labour market will improve in the coming months, supported by low rates, the housing pick-up and improving sentiment, although there is little evidence of this in today's report. We continue to see the RBA on hold. Additional reporting by Naomi Rovnick in Hong Kong.