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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Short interest slipped on the New York Stock Exchange but was little changed on the Nasdaq in late November, two weeks before a sharp rally for stocks, according to data released by the exchanges on Thursday.

Although the S&P 500 fell 1.6 percent during the period, it has rallied more than 4 percent since the start of December as many investors predict a strong end to the year.

Short interest on the New York Stock Exchange slipped 1.2 percent to 13.65 billion shares through November 30, compared with 13.81 billion shares as of November 15.

Investors who sell securities short seek to profit from a decline in stock prices. They borrow shares and then sell them in hope of buying them back later at a cheaper price, pocketing the difference.

The short interest on November 30 was equal to 3.57 percent of the total shares outstanding, the NYSE said.

Short interest on the Nasdaq dipped 0.08 percent during the period to 7.034 billion shares, compared with 7.040 billion shares as of November 15.

The short interest on Nasdaq was 3.39 days' average daily volume, compared with an average of 3.47 days for the previous reporting period, according to Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Jan Paschal)

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LONDON (AFP) – London's leading stock market fell slightly in opening trade after strong advances yesterday as investors awaited US jobs data.

The FTSE 100 index fell 0.6 percent at 5,764.17 points in early deals.

Overnight in Tokyo the Nikkei rose 9.80 points to 10,178.32 after a strong showing on Wall Street as the European Central Bank eased eurozone worries by extending stimulus measures.

But gains were expected to be limited with the bank's move largely priced in and investors sticking to the sidelines ahead of US jobs data later Friday.

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LONDON (AFP) – European stock markets fell on Wednesday, after losses elsewhere, with miners hit by weak Chinese economic data, while the euro dipped on eurozone jitters before this week's G20 summit in South Korea.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading shares sank 0.58 percent in late morning trade, Frankfurt's DAX 30 lost 0.51 percent and the Paris CAC 40 shed 0.78 percent.

The European single currency, which has been hampered this week by fears concerns over eurozone sovereign debt, slipped to 1.3764 dollars from 1.3771 late in New York on Tuesday.

And gold retreated back under 1,400 dollars per ounce, as traders took profits one day after nailing a record high at 1,424.60 dollars.

"The marked sell off in US trading late last night and weakness in Asian and Australian stock markets effectively locked in a negative start to European equities," said City Index analyst Joshua Raymond.

"Weaker-than-expected data from China ... has been the trigger for investors to lock in profits in the heavyweight mining stocks."

China's trade surplus grew in October as both exports and imports rose on-year, the government said Wednesday, piling pressure on Beijing to allow the nation's yuan currency to appreciate on the eve of the G20 summit.

The trade surplus expanded to 27.15 billion dollars in October, customs authorities said, before a Group of 20 summit that is expected to focus on rebalancing the skewed global economy.

On Thursday, world leaders will meet in Seoul for two days of top-level talks, dominated by an ill-tempered drive to rebalance the lopsided global economy and resolve fractious currency disputes.

"Ahead of tomorrow's G20 summit, China's trade surplus will continue to keep the focus on the controversial subject of trade imbalances and reform of the international monetary system," added VTB Capital economist Neil MacKinnon.

Critics claim the yuan is undervalued by as much as 40 percent, giving Chinese exporters an unfair trade advantage by making their goods artificially cheap.

At the same time, however, many emerging nations argue that the Fed helps push the dollar lower via its bond-purchasing policy of quantitative easing, which effectively dilutes the value of the greenback.

China set the yuan's central parity rate -- the middle of the currency's allowed trading band -- at 6.6450 to the dollar on Wednesday, the strongest rate since currency reforms began in 2005.

"There is no doubt that currency tensions arising from the weakness in the US dollar will be high on the agenda," added MacKinnon.

"Many countries including China are openly critical of US monetary policy and what they see as indirect currency manipulation through the Federal Reserve's QE (quantiative easing) programme."

London investors, meanwhile, digested the Bank of England's latest quarterly report.

The British central bank forecast on Wednesday that the British economy would avoid a double-dip recession, despite the impact of the government's severe deficit-slashing austerity measures.

However, the BoE also warned that the outlook remained "uncertain" for both inflation and economic growth, and left the door open for restarting its own quantitative easing policy.

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