* U.S. stocks slide despite strong U.S., Chinese data
* U.S. dollar falls to 1-year low as sentiment improves
* Oil falls below $70, gold rallies to 18-month high
* Government debt rallies on confidence rates to stay low (Updates with U.S. markets activity, changes dateline; previous LONDON)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - A slide in crude oil weighed on U.S. stocks which also struggled on Friday to gain traction after five days of gains even as U.S. and Chinese economic data spurred optimism and lifted world equity prices to year highs.
The U.S. dollar fell to a one-year low against other major currencies as the economic reports boosted recovery prospects and the low cost of borrowing in dollars encouraged investors to move cash out into riskier assets.
Britain's leading share index closed at its highest in almost a year and European shares closed higher for a sixth consecutive day. For more see [ID:nLB104412] [ID:nLB703390].
U.S. and euro zone debt prices advanced after a strong reception for this week's three U.S. Treasury debt auctions encouraged further buying in fixed-income securities despite gains in global equity markets. [ID:nN11399709]
The 10-year Bund future posted its biggest one-day gain in a month as the typical relation between stocks and debt broke down, reflecting confidence among investors that U.S. and European interest rates would stay low for a long time.
"Investors (are) buying nearly every asset ... -- stocks and bonds simultaneously. The better data supports equity markets and liquidity supports the bond market," said Luca Cazzulani, a bond strategist at Unicredit in Milan.
But both crude oil and U.S. stocks reversed earlier gains to turn lower as each market fed on the other's decline.
U.S. stock losses were limited after FedEx Corp
At 1 p.m. (1700 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 37.33 points, or 0.39 percent, at 9,590.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 2.94 points, or 0.28 percent, at 1,041.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 8.14 points, or 0.39 percent, at 2,075.88.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top shares ended 0.6 percent higher at 993.91, its highest closing level in 11 months.
October crude oil futures sank more than 3 percent, pressured by investor concerns about demand as inventories of refined fuel rise. [ID:nN11437969]
"Oil prices are sliding until we get some pickup in demand," said John Canally, investment strategist and economist for LPL Financial in Boston. "Demand has been weaker than people thought in the U.S. That's holding prices down a little bit."
U.S. crude
The InterContinental Exchange's dollar index <.DXY>, a gauge of the U.S. currency's performance against six other major currencies, was down 0.20 percent at 76.668 after falling to 76.457, its lowest in nearly a year.
The euro was last trading at $1.4572
A big drawdown in U.S. wholesale inventories and improving consumer confidence, rising more than expectations, built on recent evidence that a recovery was picking up speed. [ID:nN11377778]
The preliminary Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers reading of consumer confidence for September rose to 70.2, the highest since June, from 65.7 in August.
Chinese data surprised on the upside in August. Industrial output grew at a 12-month high of 12.3 percent from a year earlier, investment growth picked up and annual growth in the broad M2 measure of money supply rose to a record 28.5 percent. [ID:nPEK13979]
Copper edged higher and gold prices extended gains above $1,011 an ounce as the dollar fell.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was up 0.6 percent, buoyed by strong Chinese economic data. Japan missed out on the uptick in Asian shares as the Nikkei stock index <.N225> fell 0.7 percent. (Reporting by Edward McAllister, Vivianne Rodrigues and Ellen Freilich in New York, Jamie McGeever in London and Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt; Writing by Herbert Lash; Editing by James Dalgleish)