* Fed minutes, Intel results fan risk appetite
* MSCI benchmark stock index highest since mid April
* Dollar down as Fed seen easing; gold hits record high
By Walter Brandimarte and Natsuko Waki
NEW YORK/LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - World stocks hit a six-month high while the dollar weakened on Wednesday on expectations that the Federal Reserve will further loosen monetary policy, boosting appetite for risk.
Gold surged almost 2 percent to a record above $1,372 an ounce as investors sought protection against a sinking dollar. Other commodities also rose, and oil prices climbed more than 2 percent.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's September meeting on Tuesday showed officials discussed the possibility of buying more longer-term U.S. government debt to drive borrowing costs lower and ways to nudge the public into expecting higher levels of inflation in the future to spur spending.
"The Fed minutes certainly induced a rally right across the board," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New York. "We are seeing the dollar lower, gold and oil prices higher. That is adding risk flavor to the market."
A number of strong corporate results also bolstered stock
markets, including an upbeat fourth-quarter sales and margins
forecast by Intel Corp
MSCI's benchmark All-Country World equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> rose 1.4 percent on the day to hit its highest level since mid-April.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 89.12 points, or 0.81 percent, to 11,109.52, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 8.95 points, or 0.77 percent, to 1,178.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 21.04 points, or 0.87 percent, at 2,438.96.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares jumped 1.5 percent to a three-week high.
The prospect of a second round of U.S. quantitative easing, which equates to printing more money, pushed the dollar toward an eight-month low against the euro.
Dollar losses were limited, however, after the euro failed again to hold above the key psychological $1.40 mark. The dollar's recovery accelerated after automatic buy orders were triggered, traders said.
The euro
The dollar also posted losses against a basket of major
trading-partner currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY>
down 0.26 percent. Against the Japanese yen, the greenback
GOLD HITS RECORD
Gold hit a record high at $1,372.20 an ounce, 1.62 percent higher than Tuesday's close, as the dollar weakened globally.
Gold prices have rallied nearly 25 percent so far this year as investors turned to the metal as a haven from the effects of an increasingly loose monetary policy in the United States.
"Because we are in a world of quantitative easing in the developed economies, and as QE is almost synonymous with competitive devaluation ... gold and the precious metals (are) taking on the function of an alternative currency," said Ashok Shah, chief investment officer at London and Capital.
U.S. crude oil rose 2.1 percent to $83.35 per barrel after data showed China, which surpassed the United States as the world's biggest energy user, set a record 35 percent increase in September crude oil imports from a year earlier.
U.S. Treasury prices fell on prospects the Fed could buy long-dated bonds in a second round of monetary policy easing.
The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond
German government bond prices fell after European Central Bank Governing Council member Axel Weber said Europe's economy was on the road to recovery, and that the bank could raise interest rates even as it kept support measures in place. The bund future fell 64 ticks.
Weber's comments highlighted policy differences in the United States and the euro zone, supporting the euro.
"In the G4 space, the ECB is the only central bank that is talking of an exit policy and that is helping the euro," said Ankita Dudani, G10 currency strategist at RBS. (Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London; Chuck Mikolajczak and Wanfeng Zhou in New York; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)