Dollar gains, global shares up as central banks meet

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on world markets on Tuesday as data buoyed optimism about growth prospects heading into the week's meetings of the U.S., British and European central banks, while the dollar climbed from its recent five-week low.

A pick-up in euro zone consumer and business confidence gave stock markets an initial boost as they await policy clues from the U.S. Federal Reserve, ECB and Bank of England and Friday's U.S. jobs report for July.

The dollar recovered from losses against the yen after data showed U.S. single-family home prices rose in May, although the pace of gains cooled compared with the previous month.

"The nearest things on the horizon are the Fed meeting and the jobs number, so I think we're going to tread water here until that," said Jack de Gan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 23.50 points, or 0.15 percent, at 15,545.47. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.34 points, or 0.26 percent, at 1,689.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 28.24 points, or 0.78 percent, at 3,627.38.

Pfizer , the largest U.S. drugmaker, rose 1 percent after it reported second-quarter earnings above estimates, while U.S. health insurer Aetna Inc also reported better-than-expected earnings.

MSCI's world index was up 0.2 percent.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares rose 0.1 percent.

Shares of potash producers and related agriculture companies were volatile after Russia's Uralkali dismantled one of the world's largest potash partnerships by pulling out of a venture with Belarus Potash Co.

Uralkali said the decision might lead to a fall in the global potash price to below $300 per ton in the second half of 2013, from $400 per ton now.

In New York trade, Mosaic Co fell 20.1 percent, Potash Corp slid 20.1 percent and Agrium Inc fell 4.4 percent.

DOLLAR GAINS

The U.S. dollar continued to edge away from Monday's five-week low as investors viewed its sharp drop over the last two weeks as a chance to get back in ahead of the Fed meeting and this week's growth and jobs data. The dollar index was last up 0.2 percent. The dollar was last up 0.1 percent against the yen.

"I think the Fed is not going to want to rock the boat, but what could change market expectations is the U.S. data that is coming out," said Alvin Tan, FX strategist at Societe Generale.

"It is not only the Fed that is coming up tomorrow, we also have U.S. second-quarter GDP, ISM data and on Friday we have non-farm payrolls ... if these come in strong, the market is going to start pricing in a faster tapering cycle again."

Currency traders were also watching the Australian dollar, which reached a two-week low after hints from the central bank's governor of another rate cut at next week's Reserve Bank of Australia meeting.

RBA "Governor Stevens' comments that the inflation environment remains soft came in on the dovish side at a critical juncture for sentiment," said Christopher Vecchio, Currency Analyst at DailyFX in New York.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei bounced up 1.5 percent as the yen eased, though stocks elsewhere in the region finished flat. China's central bank's first injection of funds into money markets since February was balanced by some mixed data.

COMMODITIES PRESSURED

Commodities stayed under pressure before the Fed meeting and on concerns about China's outlook. Analysts polled by Reuters forecast data on Thursday will show its manufacturing sector may have shrunk in July for the first time in 10 months.

Copper hit a three-week low, gold was little change at $1,326.16 an ounce and U.S. crude lost 1.5 percent to change hands below $104 a barrel.

Gold was also hurt by action in the U.S. dollar, as traders shied away from taking big bets ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting. Gold is priced in U.S. dollars.

German bund futures were little changed before this week's ECB meeting, where the central bank is expected to give some details on its plans to provide "forward guidance" on rates for the first time.

U.S. Treasuries prices rose as traders positioned for the release of second-quarter U.S. economic growth data, the Federal Reserve policy statement and the Treasury's next refunding announcement, all due on Wednesday.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose 1/32 in price, the yield easing to 2.595 percent from 2.61 percent late on Monday.

(Reporting by Nick Olivari and Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Dan Grebler)