GLOBAL MARKETS-Dollar slump lifts gold to new high, oil gains

* Global stocks falter after disappointing J&J results

* Dollar drops to 14-month low versus currency basket

* Government debt up on soft stocks, economic weakness

* Oil rises for 4th day on demand outlook, weak dollar (Updates with U.S. markets, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar slumped to a 14-month low against a basket of other major units on Tuesday, helping push gold to record peaks and oil to a seven-week high amid renewed worries about low U.S. interest rates.

Silver, platinum, palladium and rhodium rallied to multimonth highs as the dollar's slide, including a fall against the euro to its lowest since August 2008, fueled a surge in precious metals. For more see [ID:nLD592188].

The euro hit a high around $1.4875.

Expectations of a stronger global recovery outside the United States added to rising demand for commodity- and growth-linked currencies such as the Australian and Canadian dollars.

Oil's rise was helped after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries raised its demand forecast for 2010. OPEC forecast a recovering global economy would boost world crude demand by 700,000 barrels a day next year, or 200,000 barrels more than it had previously forecast.

Disappointing sales at Johnson & Johnson , a member of the Dow Jones industrial average, pushed European and U.S. stocks lower. While J&J's third-quarter profit topped forecasts, it was largely due to cost cuts and lower taxes. [ID:nLD722000]

A missed sales number at J&J cooled the mood on Wall Street. The next big company to release results is Intel , the world's biggest chip-maker, which reports after U.S. markets close.

"If market players start to see that J&J is the norm, they're not going to wait around for the news before selling," said Elliot Spar, market strategist at Stifel Nicolaus in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.

"You can be thrown in both directions during this time of the year simply because some of the company results are better than expected and sometimes results have negative surprises," said Luc Van Hecka, chief economist at KBC Securities.

The Nasdaq was lifted by Cisco Systems Inc , up 0.6 percent after it agreed to buy Starent Networks Corp for $2.9 billion, or $35 per share. [ID:nN13179321]

Shortly after 1 p.m. (1700 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 10.13 points, or 0.10 percent, at 9,875.67. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 3.10 points, or 0.29 percent, at 1,073.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 1.18 points, or 0.06 percent, at 2,140.32.

Financials were among the top losers in Britain and Europe, with the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares finishing 1 percent lower at 995.42.

"The reporting season is going to be an important one because the market will be looking at not just companies' bottom lines but also the top line to see whether the recovery may be sustainable," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin.

U.S. Treasury debt prices rose, recovering from the worst sell-off in more than a month, as falling stocks and signs of economic weakness abroad reminded investors of the bumpy road to recovery. [ID:nN13186555]

Safe-haven Treasuries received support along with euro zone government bonds after a measure of German investor morale unexpectedly fell in October, adding to data that has tempered hopes for a strong global recovery. [ID:nLD628386]

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was up 16/32 in price to yield 3.33 percent.

A stronger euro lifted the euro zone's benchmark German government bonds, with the short end outperforming longer-dated maturities. [ID:nLD686134]

The dollar was down against a basket of major currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> down 0.38 percent at 75.836, a 14-month low.

The euro was up 0.41 percent at $1.4831, and against the yen, the dollar was down 0.11 percent at 89.73 yen.

U.S. light sweet crude oil rose 56 cents to $73.83 a barrel.

Spot gold touched a peak of $1,068.30 an ounce, and later was selling $7.25 higher at $1,062.50.

Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei share average <.N225> rose 0.6 percent, and MSCI's index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> rose 0.4 percent. (Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica, Nick Olivari, Burton Frierson and Joshua Schneyer in New York and Atul Prakash, Harpreet Bhaland and Ian Chua in London; Writing by Herbert Lash; Editing by James Dalgleish)