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* Wall Street keeps gains after release of Fed minutes
* Yields slip after U.S. Fed meeting minutes
* Oil prices rise on expected drop in U.S. inventories
* Dollar edges down from 14-year high (Updates to afternoon U.S. trading, adds settled oil prices)
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Stock indexes around the worldgained on Wednesday, bolstered by upbeat global economic dataand by minutes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting,which showed policymakers thought the U.S. economy could growmore quickly because of fiscal stimulus under the Trumpadministration.
The dollar retreated from a 14-year high against a basket ofcurrencies, briefly hitting a session low, while U.S. Treasurydebt yields slipped after the release of the minutes.
The minutes showed how broadly views within the Fed areshifting in response to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump'spromises of tax cuts, infrastructure spending and deregulation.
MSCI's world index, which tracks shares in46 countries, rose 0.84 percent to a three-week high.
The index found support from a batch of rosy economicreports from Europe, and got a boost from a second day ofstrength in U.S. stocks.
"Clearly, some of the members on the committee are taking alook at proposed fiscal changes, whether that's tax cuts orinfrastructure spending," said Chris Zaccarelli, ChiefInvestment Officer for Cornerstone Financial Partners.
U.S. stocks have surged over the past two months onexpectations that Trump will stimulate the economy with tax cutsand infrastructure spending, and eliminate regulations in thefinancial industry.
"It's confirmation of what people were already expecting,"Zaccarelli said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 61.65 points,or 0.31 percent, to 19,943.41, the S&P 500 gained 13.49points, or 0.60 percent, to 2,271.32 and the Nasdaq Composite added 50.69 points, or 0.93 percent, to 5,479.77.
Gains on Wall Street were supported by strength in consumerdiscretionary stocks.
European shares edged down from a one-year high withretailers in focus after standout faller Next cut itsprofit guidance and cautioned on future trade. Europe's broadFTSEurofirst 300 index closed little changed at1,443.80.
The dollar, which rose to its highest in 14 years againstthe euro and a basket of major currencies on Tuesday, touched asession low of 102.39 following the release of the Fed minutes,before recovering some ground.
The dollar index - which measures the greenbackagainst a basket of six major rivals - was down 0.47 percent to102.72, having hit a peak of 103.82 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose on expectations that U.S. crudeinventories are falling and signs that oil producers will stickto agreed output cuts that took effect this week.
Brent crude settled up 99 cents, or 1.78 percent, at$56.46 a barrel, and U.S. crude settled up 93 cents, or1.78 percent, at $53.26.
In bond markets, the Fed minutes sent U.S. Treasury debtyields lower as the policy meeting struck a more uncertain tonethan the market had expected.
While the minutes showed many policymakers consideringfaster interest rate increases in response to a quicker pace ofeconomic growth, they also spelled out the downside risks whichcould limit economic growth, such as trade barriers and thedollar's rise.
Both U.S. 10-year note and 30-year bond yields brieflytouched session lows after the release of the Fed minutes.
The U.S. 10-year note was down 4/32 in price toyield 2.465 percent, compared with 2.454 percent late onTuesday.
Gold touched a near-four week high helped by the retreatingdollar and increased demand from major consumers China andIndia. Spot gold prices were up 0.38 percent at$1,163.24. (Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Additional reporting byGertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York and Noel Randewich in NoelRandewich; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
