* Dollar sinks to 6-month low vs euro on Dudley comments
* Oil jumps to $81 on weak dollar, China data support
* Bond prices fall on improved U.S. income, spending data
* Gold hits peak at $1,317.80/oz as dollar slips (Updates with opening of U.S. markets, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar hit a six-month low versus the euro and global stocks trimmed gains on Friday after a Federal Reserve official said more Fed easing may be needed and U.S. manufacturing growth slowed last month.
Crude oil jumped on strong Chinese manufacturing data and gold prices hit a record high for a sixth successive session on expectations of further U.S. monetary easing after comments by William Dudley, president of the New York Fed. For details, see [ID:nSGE69005H] [ID:nLDE6900UA]
The dollar, oil and U.S. stocks trimmed gains after a report from the Institute for Supply Management showed growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector slowed in September.
Treasury losses deepened on the ISM data, which showed factory activity holding up better than the rest of the economy even as indications suggest new orders are losing steam.
Dudley said that current conditions of high unemployment and low inflation are "unacceptable," suggesting another round of quantitative easing may be in the works. [ID:nN01186783]
"The Fed has only provided statements that the market should expect QE2. The only question is how much. That is the catalyst for the advancement for stocks and bonds," said Todd Schoenberger, managing director at Landcolt Trading Inc in Austin, Texas.
MSCI's all-country world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> was up 0.3 percent, but the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> was down 0.4 percent and U.S. indexes hovered near break-even.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 27.02 points, or 0.25 percent, at 10,815.07. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 1.91 points, or 0.17 percent, at 1,143.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 2.13 points, or 0.09 percent, at 2,366.49.
Oil rose on Friday to above $81 a barrel to a seven-week high, boosted by the weak dollar and Chinese factory activity. [ID:nSGE69005H]
U.S. crude for November
The strong manufacturing data from China, the world's largest consumer of industrial metals, boosted copper prices to their highest in more than two years. [ID:nLDE690107]
Copper touched $8,178 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange, a gain of about 35 percent since early June and its highest since July 2008.
The dollar was down against major currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> down 0.59 percent at 78.255.
The euro
Treasury prices fell on stronger-than-expected data in spite of Dudley's remarks leaving open the possibility for more Federal Reserve support for the economy. [ID:nN01179182]
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was up 0.7 percent on the Chinese manufacturing data. Japan's Nikkei <.N225> average closed up 0.37 percent. (Reporting by Edward Krudy, Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Emily Flitter in New York; Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Jan Harvey in London; Writing by Herbert Lash; Editing by Kenneth Barry)