MORNING BID EUROPE-Brexit countdown: Theresa May tour begins

* A look at the day ahead from European Economics and Politics Editor Mark John and Deputy EMEA Markets Editor Sujata Rao. The views expressed are their own.

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - A year to the day before Britain is scheduled to leave the EU, PM Theresa May heads off on a tour of a deeply divided country. Her main message will be that the future is bright, but the tone of the trip is likely to be terse at times: many of the people she will encounter along the way believe the post-Brexit future is anything but, while committed but increasingly impatient Leavers will urge her to just get on with it.

A similarly awkward milestone is reached tomorrow with the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday power-sharing agreement in Northern Ireland. Celebratory events there are somewhat ambivalent given that the local devolved government has been suspended for over a year, and that Brexit has raised still unanswered questions about whether a new border will be needed with Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) to the south.

Notwithstanding the coordinated show of solidarity over the UK nerve attack that led to the mass expulsions of Russian ambassadors from Western capitals, France has just confirmed that Emmanuel Macron will travel to Russia in May for the St Petersburg forum as planned. Paris says there is still a need to have what it calls a "frank" dialogue with Moscow, which it sees as crucial to solving some of the world's most pressing diplomatic problems, among them Syria.

More insights into the health of the German economy are due today with the usual dance of the seven veils on regional inflation data throughout the morning due to culminate in the release of a pan-German figure this afternoon. That is seen rising from 1.2 percent to an annualised 1.6 percent, suggesting price pressures in Europe's biggest economy are slowly building. That should be accompanied by March data showing a further fall in unemployment to a seasonally adjusted jobless rate at a record low of 5.3 percent, boding well for Germany's consumer-led upswing.

MARKETS AT 0655 GMT

World shares are set for the second month of losses after shattering a record 15-month long run of gains in February. It’s also the end of a momentous quarter -- a loss-making one for the MSCI’s all-country index, down more than 2 percent after seven straight quarters in the black. The culprits are tech and trade – the Nasdaq (Frankfurt: 813516 - news) is showing its worst month in two years, led this time by Amazon which fell almost 7 percent at one point, after President Trump said he wanted to rein in the online retailer. Tesla meanwhile extended losses to slump almost 8 percent. Is the tech-driven rally over or is this just a reality check? Watch for sight and sound of more regulation on the sector.

However, for the quarter the so-called FAANG stocks are still up almost 20 percent. On the trade front it’s turned a bit quieter but all the noise is driving investors into defensive stocks – domestic consumer staples for instance – and also things such as the yen and bonds. Ten-year Treasury yields are at seven-week lows and the yen is the second-best performing asset this quarter (after tech stocks – go figure) and German benchmark yields appear stuck near 0.5 percent, well off the multi-year highs of 0.8 percent hit earlier in the quarter when growth and inflation both seemed to be steadily moving up.

Which brings us to the other factor – growth. U.S. growth data has stayed relatively robust with Q4 revised numbers showing 2.9 percent expansion but economic surprises in the euro zone have been less cheerful, though still relatively solid. Could trade wars and a stock market reversal dent that some more? The U.S. yield curve flattened further yesterday as long-dated yields fell and a poor auction of 2-year debt (the weakest demand in two years) raised yields at the short end.

Today we get some indicators that could provide more growth clues -- Germany March inflation, the third estimate of the UK GDP for Q4 which is likely to confirm the economy expanded 0.4 percent and in the U.S., February’s core PCE deflator, a measure closely followed by the Fed, is also due. There has been some good news however – with North Korea seemingly confirming a commitment to denuclearization, Asian markets have firmed and the yuan is set for the fifth quarter of gains. The dollar index is just off one-week highs, and set for the fifth straight quarter of losses.

Upcoming events/data/ themes for market reports on Thursday and Friday: THURSDAY Japan auctions 2-year government bonds Australia Feb housing credit Europe corp events: Poste Italiene Swiss March KOF sentiment index German March inflation, jobless Italy Feb producer prices Belgium March inflation UK Q4 GDP revision, Feb consumer credit, mortgage data Czech, Egypt central banks policy decisions Turkey Q4 GDP SAfrica Feb trade, govt budget, credit US Feb personal income, consumption, PCE price index, March Chicago PMI, March UMich sentiment, weekly jobless Canada Feb producer prices Brazil Feb jobless Philadelphia Fed chief Harker speaks in NYC

FRIDAY UK and U.S. markets closed for Good Friday Japan Feb industrial output, jobless, Tokyo March inflation SKorea Feb industrial output France March inflation, Feb consumer spending Italy March inflation Turkey Feb trade Moody’s reviews sovereign credit rating of Greece and Montenegro

(editing by John Stonestreet)