* World stocks trim losses after Fed ups 2010 forecast
* Safe-haven dollar higher vs currency basket
* Consumer confidence, housing data fail to spur optimism (Refiles to fix typos in first two paragraphs)
By Manuela Badawy
NEW YORK, Nov 24 (Reuters) - World stocks ended lower on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve revised upward its growth estimates for 2010, while the U.S. dollar rose on data showing the American economy grew at a slower pace than expected in the third quarter.
Stocks recovered some early losses after Federal Reserve officials expressed confidence in the sustainability of the U.S. economic recovery, even if they do not see employment picking up soon. [ID:nN24506536] [ID:nN24313828]
"The minutes to the November 4 FOMC meeting indicated that Fed officials expressed some concern that low interest rates may spur excessive risk-taking and/or cause inflation expectations to become unanchored," said Ward McCarthy, managing director, fixed-income division at Jefferies & Co.
MSCI's all-country world stock index <.MIWD00000PUS> was down 0.42 percent, yet it has gained 31.02 percent so far this year.
The U.S. dollar gained momentum after U.S. economic data showed growth at a 2.8 percent annual rate rather than a previous forecast of 3.5 percent, suggesting an anemic U.S. economic recovery.
It was still the fastest pace since the third quarter of 2007, probably ending the most painful U.S. recession in 70 years. [ID:nN24296971]
Yet investors need to see stronger growth to justify the rally seen in stocks and high-risk high-yielding assets.
"If we want to get this economy going, if we want to get this economy recovering and add jobs, we're going to want to see better numbers than we are seeing," said Richard Sparks, a senior equities analyst with Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.
For a graphic on the U.S. third-quarter GDP, click on http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/119/US_GDPTR1109.gif
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> ended down 0.16 percent, at 10,433.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> closed down 0.05 percent, at 1,105.65 and the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> fell 0.31 percent, at 2,169.18.
The Dow hit a 13-month high on Monday and the S&P 500 has risen 22 percent this year.
Other U.S. data showed house prices rose for the fifth month in September, but the pace of appreciation was less than expected, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller report.
U.S. consumer confidence was up in November, after an unexpected drop in October, but still pointed to weak labor market sentiment.
"The index showed unexpected marginal improvement, but there seems to be no improvement whatsoever in the perception of the labor market which is probably the key issue now. The good news is it can't get any worse," said Pierre Ellis, senior economist at Decision Economics in New York.
DOLLAR DAY
The U.S. dollar firmed against a basket of six major currencies but weakened against the Japanese yen as the economic data rekindled the safe-haven allure of both the dollar and yen. That reduced investor appetite for riskier assets like stocks and commodities, including higher-yielding currencies.
The dollar index <.DXY> rose 0.04 percent at 75.117, while
the euro
Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury debt prices rose after a $42 billion auction of five-year Treasury notes attracted strong demand.
"The continued interest in Treasuries is the result of a lack of alternatives," said Lou Brien, market strategist at DRW Trading in Chicago. "This is a flight to quantity. It's the only game in town."
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes
Earlier, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top shares closed 0.7 percent lower at 1,016.66 points after rising to a high of 1,025.17 earlier in the session.
The index has gained 57 percent since falling to a record low in early March and is up 22 percent for the year.
Many global stock investors are being cautious heading into the year-end, wanting to lock in profits after a very good run in 2009 while also worrying about the true state of the world economy.
Japan's Nikkei <.225> hit its lowest close in four months, down 1 percent on the day. Japan's current concerns are focused on worries financial firms will tap the market for equity financing and on a stronger yen hurting the shares of exporters.
(Additional reporting by Ellen Freilich and Richard Leong; Editing by Diane Craft)
((manuela.badawy@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-6055; Reuters Messaging: manuela.badawy.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available
for: * 3000 Xtra: visit
http://topnews.session.rservices.com
* BridgeStation: view story .134
For more information on Top News:
http://topnews.reuters.com)) (To read Reuters Global Investing Blog click on http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting; for the MacroScope Blog click on http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope; for Hedge Fund Blog click on http://blogs.reuters.com/hedgehub)