GLOBAL MARKETS-Dollar slips, stocks trim gains on housing data

* US new home sales at 7-month low, temper economy hopes

* European shares close at 15-month high despite data

* Dollar halts 6-day rally, slips against major currencies

By Walter Brandimarte

NEW YORK, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The dollar halted a six-day rally and global stocks lost steam on Wednesday after an unexpected fall in U.S. new home sales curbed optimism about an economic recovery.

Oil prices jumped nearly 3 percent, supporting energy shares, after inventory data showed a much larger-than-expected decline in stocks of crude. The dollar slide also boosted commodity prices in general, sending gold nearly 1 percent higher.

European shares trimmed gains after the U.S. housing data but managed to close at a 15-month high, with financials among the top gainers.

Sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes unexpectedly dropped 11.3 percent last month to a 355,000 unit annual rate, frustrating economists who expected an increase to 440,000 units. For details, see [ID:nN23158201]

The data reminded investors that the path to a recovery will be bumpy, one day after a larger-than-expected jump in sales of existing U.S. homes fueled a market rally.

"It's clearly a disappointing number," said Nick Bennenbroek, head of currency strategy at Wells Fargo in New York.

"You're going to get bumps along the road every so often as far as recovery is concerned. It might change sentiment regarding interest rates and the dollar a little bit."

Stock investors, however, appeared ready to take the data in stride.

The MSCI all-country world stock index <.MIWD00000PUS> was 0.7 percent higher, and the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares rose 0.2 percent to its highest close since Oct. 3, 2008.

Total trading volume in the European index, which is up 24 percent this year, was just 41 percent of the three-month daily average.

On Wall Street, shares of technology and natural resource companies supported gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 6.57 points, or 0.06 percent, at 10,471.50. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 2.74 points, or 0.25 percent, at 1,120.76. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 15.19 points, or 0.67 percent, at 2,267.86.

DOLLAR HALTS RALLY

The dollar declined for the first time in five sessions against the euro and halted a six-day rally against a basket of major currencies after the housing data.

Trading was extremely thin, which may have exaggerated currency moves. Tokyo markets were closed for a national holiday and many market players elsewhere have already wound down for the Christmas holidays and year-end.

The euro was up 0.76 percent at $1.4357. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar firmed 0.45 percent at 91.43. The U.S. dollar index <.DXY> was down 0.60 percent.

"Folks are taking some profits on their long dollar positions ahead of the holiday," said Samarjit Shankar, managing director of global FX strategy at BNY Mellon in Boston.

But sterling fell after the Bank of England's December policy meeting minutes showed that officials felt little had changed since November. That was seen as leaving the door open to a further expansion of the central bank's asset buying program. [ID:nLDE5BM0JP]

The pound fell as low as $1.5924, one tick from Tuesday's trough, which was the weakest level since mid-October. It was little changed at $1.5971.

U.S. Treasury prices rose after several days of losses as the housing data revived some safe-haven bids, but traders reported very thin volumes.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes traded 6/32 higher in price, with the yield at 3.736 percent, down from 3.76 percent late on Tuesday. Two-year notes were unchanged, with the yield at 0.9133 percent.

U.S. light crude oil rose $2.20 to $76.60 per barrel, while spot gold prices climbed $10.70, or 0.99 percent, to $1,093.90.

(Additional reporting by Wanfeng Zhou, Chuck Mikolajczak and Chris Reese; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)