All eyes on U.S. stimulus, big Barclays profit

* U.S. lawmakers wrangle over stimulus bill

* Barclays makes profit but Whirlpool, Nissan post losses

* France announces aid for two carmakers

* Stocks in Japan fall; European and U.S. shares rise (Restores missing word "billion" in paragraph 2 in reference to $800 billion stimulus bill)

WASHINGTON/LONDON, Feb 9 - Britain's Barclays bank provided some welcome news on Monday but investors continued to look to Washington for a plan to stimulate the U.S. economy and another to stabilize its banks.

As major companies reported largely poor results and warned of tough economic times, President Barack Obama hit the road to drum up support for an $800 billion stimulus bill that the U.S. Senate has been grappling with.

With Obama wanting quick action and the full attention of Congress on the bill, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner postponed his much-awaited announcement of a bank rescue plan until Tuesday.

The dollar slipped against major currencies, with sentiment dented by the delays.

"There's just a little bit of uncertainty about the U.S. stimulus announcement and also any announcements on where the U.S. now goes on the financial sector reforms and bailouts," said RBS strategist Paul Robson.

POOR RESULTS

European stocks rose a bit as investors awaited approval of the stimulus plan and bank rescue package.

Japan's Nikkei average ended 1.3 percent lower.

U.S. stocks were flat after the Dow .DJI> briefly fell more than 1 percent on another wave of poor earnings showing more upheaval for the U.S. and global economies.

Barclays offered a rare bit of good news, reporting an annual profit of 6.1 billion pounds ($9 billion), but carmakers have been hammered by collapsing demand.

Nissan Motor Co posted a big quarterly loss and said it would lay off 20,000 workers. For the full year, Japan's No. 3 carmaker now expects an operating loss -- its first in 14 years -- of 180 billion yen ($2 billion).

Last week, its larger rival Toyota forecast an operating loss for the year of about $5 billion.

Shares of Whirlpool slid after the world's biggest appliance maker reported a 76 percent drop in quarterly profit and warned of a fall in 2009 earnings.

The French government pledged loans to Renaultand PSA Peugeot Citroen on Monday to support the ailing auto sector.

In the United States, General Motors and Chrysler are racing to prove to the government they can be commercially viable after getting a $17.4 billion bailout.

Barclays said it expects "another challenging year."

"PRINCIPAL ISSUE"

"The principal issue for 2009 is going to be rapid economic slowdown, in a sense more a familiar but nonetheless pretty brutal slowdown in economic growth all around the world," said Barclays Chief Executive John Varley.

Britain's economy was likely to contract at least 2 percent this year, he said. Britain, the United States, Japan and the euro zone are already in recession.

The damage from the financial crisis in Europe was highlighted by a 3.7 percent fall in German exports in December and a Bank of France survey showing the economy is expected to shrink by 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

In Japan, data showed core machinery orders falling 1.7 percent to a two-decade low and the country's current account surplus sliding 92 percent in December from a year earlier.

Emerging economies are also suffering, with India on Monday forecasting 7.1 growth in its fiscal year 2008/09, the slowest pace in six years.

South Korea's LG Electronics said it aimed to cut $2.2 billion in costs and may shed jobs in anticipation of a 20 percent sales fall in dollar terms this year.

U.S. DEBATE RUMBLES ON

For all that, the focus stayed firmly on the U.S. stimulus bill.

"It's a good package and one that our country really needs," said Senator Susan Collins of Maine, one of the few Republican supporters.

"We're facing a crisis and it makes no sense to have a partisan divide on the most important issue facing our country," Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska added in a joint appearance on NBC's "Today Show."

The Senate is expected to pass an $827 billion package on Tuesday, setting up a fierce fight to reconcile it with the $819 billion bill passed by the House with no Republican support.

Obama, who holds a town hall meeting in Indiana and then a news conference at 8 p.m. EST as he seeks to rally public support for the stimulus measures, wants a final bill by this weekend to sign into law. ($1=.6774 Pound)