* Gold at new record as dollar struggles
* Stocks up, emerging shares at year high
* Wall Street set for positive start
* Alco earnings lift hopes for Q3 results season
By Jeremy Gaunt, European Investment Correspondent
LONDON, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Gold hit a fresh record high on
Thursday as the dollar struggled, while emerging market stocks
climbed to their highest level this year.
Wall Street looked set for a buoyant start and European
shares were around 1 percent higher, essentially unmoved by the
Bank of England and European Central Bank both keeping interest
rates unchanged.
Market sentiment was also boosted by aluminium giant Alcoa's
<AA.N> posting of a surprise profit on Wednesday after three
consecutive quarterly losses. []
The company was the first major report in the U.S.
third-quarter earnings season which will go a long way to
deciding the fate of a sharp equity rally dating back to March.
Spot gold <XAU=> topped $1,058 per ounce to mark a record
high for the third session in a row, before dropping back to
around $1,053.
It has primarily been driven higher by the weakening dollar,
which makes the dollar-denominated metal more attractive to
investors.
In some currencies -- the high-flying Australian dollar, for
example -- gold has actually fallen in price this year.
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"Investors are turning towards gold as a hedge in dollar
weakness," said Adrian Koh, an analyst at Phillip Futures in
Singapore.
The dollar was down 0.6 percent against a basket of major
currencies <.DXY=>, close to its year lows.
The currency has been hit by a combination of expectations
that U.S. interest rates will stay low for some time and a
belief that the global economy is on the mend, easing the
motivation behind last year's flight to dollar safety.
The euro was up 0.5 percent at $1.4752 <EUR=> and the dollar
lost a quarter of a percent to 88.32 yen <JPY=>.
The Australian dollar <AUD=> gained 1.4 percent, still
benefiting from this week's rate hike. It has now gained nearly
28 percent against the U.S. dollar this year.
STOCKS BUOYANT
World stocks were putting in another positive performance,
with MSCI's all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS> up
three-quarters of a percent. Its emerging market counterpart
<.MSCIEF> was up 0.8 percent at a new high for the year.
The two indexes have gained around 27 percent and 65
percent, respectively, this year.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> was up nearly 1
percent, boosted in part by commodity-related stocks and bullish
sentiment over the Alcoa earnings.
"It is now all about anticipating quarter-three earnings.
There is a general sense that quarter-three earnings are going
to be more positive than expectations," said Bernard McAlinden,
market strategist at NCB Stockbrokers.
Earlier, Japan's Nikkei <> closed up 0.3 percent.
Demand for short-dated euro zone debt slipped with the
Schatz yield <EU10YT=RR> at 1.27 percent.
(Additional reporting by Joanne Frearson, editing by Mike
Peacock)
