London (AFP) - European shares driftedonMonday, awaiting political signals about Britain's EU exit, while Asian stocks added to their rally on hopes of another stimulus jolt for economies already on central bank life support.The FTSE 100 index was mostly flat in late morning trading in London, getting little traction from a report in the Financial Times thatBritish finance minister George Osborne plans to slash corporation tax by over five percentage points to under 15 percent to tempt businesses to stay.In Frankfurt the DAX 30 slipped 0.2 percent and in Paris the CAC 40 was dropped 0.3 percent."Brexit will remain the dominant story in the markets again this week with investors remaining somewhat in limbo over the future of the UK's relationship with the EU," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda trading group.While the start of the week is looking relatively quiet, with the US markets closed on Monday in celebration of Independence Day, the rest of the week is likely to be anything other than dull.Investors are awaiting the release Wednesday of minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting to see if it sheds any light on its plans for interest rates, while US June jobs data is due on Friday.The FTSE was getting a boost from the commodities market."Mining stocks have continued to make gains in the last 24 hours with precious metals miners feeling the tail wind of a move higher in silver and gold prices," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.The prospect of lower interest rates sticking around for longer as central banks continue to prop up markets and economies was also benefitting shares in mining companies, which often carry large amounts of debt.Fresnillo led the gainers with a jump of 7.0 percent followed by Randgold Resourcesat 3.6 percent.The Italian banking sector, which is weighed down by a mountain of non-performing loans and has seen a plunge in share values that makes it even more difficult to for them to remain viable, is casting a shadow over markets.Milan's FTSE-Mib index was down 0.8 percent, with shares in troubled Monte Di Paschi bank falling 10 percent.- 'Uncertainty' -Asian stocks pushed higher again Monday, building on last week's rally.Tokyo rose 0.6 percent -- marking a sixth-straight gain -- Hong Kong climbed 1.3 percent in the afternoon and Shanghai added 1.9 percent by the close. Seoul added 0.4 percent.Sydney rose 0.7 percent, despite the weekend's general election producing no clear winner raising the prospect of a hung parliament.With votes still being counted, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the final result might not be known for several days, while Standard & Poor's warned the uncertainty could lead to the country's top-class AAA rating being cut.South Korea's promise of $17 billion in stimulus last week came as dealers speculate that Japan will bolster its own multi-billion-dollar programme, while the chances of the US raising interest rates this year have all but evaporated.On Thursday, Bank of England boss Mark Carney became the latest to provide assurances, indicating policymakers could embark on fresh monetary easing -- and possibly cut rates."While the potential for increased liquidity from central banks has helped calm stock markets,there's still a lot of uncertainty out there," Nicholas Teo, a trading strategist at KGI Fraser Securities in Singapore, told Bloomberg News.The pound edged up against the dollar after taking a hammering from the referendum outcome.In European trading it rose to$1.3278against $1.3267 Friday in New York and is well up from the 31-year low of $1.3121 it touched at the start of last week.- Key figures around 1000 GMT -London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.01 percent at 6,577.57 pointsFrankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.2percent 9,755.57Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.3percent at 4,260.33Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 15,775.80 (close)Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.3 percent at 21,059.20 (close)Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.9 percent at 2,988.60(close)Pound/dollar: UPat $1.3278 from $1.3267 FridayEuro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1129 from $1.1138Dollar/yen: UP at 102.60yen from 102.52 yenNew York - DOW: UP 0.1 percent at 17,949.37 (close)Join the conversation about this story
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