GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks advance on recovery hopes, dollar weakens

                                
 * U.S. stocks set new 2009 highs as recovery signs mount
                                
 * US dollar sees new 2009 lows as risk appetite increases
                                
 * Crude oil rises above $72 a barrel, before paring gains
                                
 * Fed's Beige Book sees a stabilizing but weak economy
 (Updates with close of U.S. markets)
                                
 By Herbert Lash
                                
 NEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Global stocks pushed higher on
Wednesday, with major indexes setting new highs for 2009 as
evidence of economic recovery mounts, while a weakening U.S.
dollar led investors to move into riskier assets.
                                
 The U.S. dollar touched new lows for 2009 against major
currencies, as growing faith in recovery persuaded many
investors to move money away from safe-havens. [ID:nN09522882]
                                
 Gold bullion prices again tested the $1,000 level, before
settling lower, and the benchmark S&P 500 stock index closed at
its highest level in 2009. Britain's top share index <.FTSE>
closed above the 5,000 level for the first time since October.
                                
 The gains in world equities initially drew investors away
from safe-haven government debt, while the weaker dollar helped
to push up oil prices and the share price of energy companies.
                                
 But most U.S. Treasury debt prices traded steady to higher,
after a well-bid 10-year U.S. Treasury note sale and after the
Federal Reserve expressed some doubts about economic recovery.[ID:nN09348604]
                                
 The modestly upbeat Fed Beige Book survey said most U.S.
regions reported some improvement in hard-hit residential real
estate markets and an uptick in manufacturing, but hiring
remained weak and retail sales were flat. [ID:nN09345051]
                                
 "It's very clear that investors are taking on riskier
positions," said William Sullivan, chief economist at JVB
Financial Group of Boca Raton, Florida.
                                
 "Cash is flowing into stocks, commodities, crude oil and
corporate bonds and some of that cash is coming out of
intermediate- and long-term Treasuries," Sullivan said.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 49.88
points, or 0.53 percent, at 9,547.22. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> added 7.98 points, or 0.78 percent, at 1,033.37.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 22.62 points, or 1.11
percent, at 2,060.39.
                                
 A rally in European and U.S. stocks off decade-lows in
March has supported hopes for economic recovery and underpinned
the appetite for risk. That has reduced demand for the dollar
as a safe haven, pushing the euro to fresh highs for 2009.
                                
 "The dollar trade is ultimately a risk trade. That is, as
risk appetite improves, the dollar gets hurt," said Boris
Schlossberg, a director for currency research at GFT Forex in
New York.
                                
 Renewed concerns over the dollar's long-term status as the
world's reserve currency and options-related euro buying also
contributed to a dollar sell-off, which started on Tuesday.
                                
 Oil prices settled higher even after ministers from a
meeting in Vienna of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries signaled no plans to cut oil production. and the U.S.
Energy Information Administration cut its oil demand
forecast.[ID:nL9490929]
                                
 U.S. crude for October delivery <CLc1> settled up 21 cents,
or 0.3 percent, at $71.31 a barrel. Earlier Wednesday, prices
rose to a one-month high above $72, after surging more than $5
a barrel from their lows on Friday.   
                                
 "The dollar is weak and the stock markets are up, so we're
seeing crude futures higher today," said Mark Waggoner,
president of Excel Futures in Huntington Beach, California.
                                
 Gold ended lower after briefly topping $1,000 an ounce
earlier in the session. [ID:nL9716697]
                                
 U.S. December gold futures <GCZ9> settled down $2.70 at
$997.10 an ounce in New York.
                                
 European equities hit an 11-month closing high. Rising oil
prices on the back of a falling dollar boosted energy stocks,
while Commerzbank <CBKG.DE> led the financial sector higher.
[ID:nL988743]
                                
 In London, the benchmark FTSE 100 <.FTSE> closed above the
5,000 level for the first time since October. [ID:nL9157575]
                                
 Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes <US10YT=RR> were up 1/32
in price to yield 3.48 percent, unchanged from late Tuesday.
                                
 Asian stocks had drifted lower after hitting a one-year
high earlier on Wednesday. The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific
shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> dipped 0.4 percent and
gave up early gains that pushed the benchmark to a one-year
peak. Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> fell 0.8 percent
 (Reporting by Leah Schnurr, Ellen Freilich, Vivianne Rodrigues
in New York; Emma Farge, Atul Prakash, Jessica Mortimer and Jon
Hopkins in London; writing by Herbert Lash)