British stocks unchanged ahead of Brexit vote; Shell dips

UK shares held steady on Friday as trading began to wind down ahead of Christmas and investors awaited a parliamentary vote on the Brexit deal, while Shell dipped after it forecast $2.3 billion in impairment charges for its latest quarter. The FTSE 100 and the FTSE 250 were roughly flat by 0810 GMT. With major events such as a 'phase one' U.S.-China trade deal and the British election done, the vote on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's divorce deal is set to take center stage.

With a clear majority in parliament, the deal - which now includes a provision for a hard, December 2020 deadline to reach a trade agreement with the European Union - is expected to be ratified without any major hiccups. Shell gave up 1%, the most notable move in early deals, as the oil major also trimmed its forecast for quarterly oil production sales.