RPT-GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks retreat, dollar pressured

                                
 * Asia shares stall at 15-month highs despite tame U.S.
rates
                                
 * Dollar stuck near 15-month lows
                                
 * Gold off record high but supported by weak dollar
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 By Yoo Choonsik
                                
 SINGAPORE, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Asian stocks surrendered
early gains on Tuesday as investors took profits from recent
gains, while the dollar was pinned near 15-month lows after
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke repeated the central bank
was likely to keep interest rates at very low levels for some
time.
                                
 Gold eased off record highs set on Monday but held near
$1,140 an ounce, with investors still regarding it as an
attractive alternative investment given persistent U.S. dollar
weakness and despite bullion's already strong run-up this year.
                                
 The dollar edged up against a basket of major
trading-partner currencies <.DXY>, off 15-month lows hit
overnight, but its broad downtrend was seen as intact on a
growing view that U.S. interest rates are likely to stay low
for a while.
                                
 Markets showed little reaction to talks between U.S.
President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao in
Beijing. Both leaders agreed to work to ease trade and economic
frictions between the two giants but appeared to break no new
ground on the contentious issue of the value of the yuan.
[CN-US-DIP-NEWS]
                                
 Obama nudged Hu to allow the yuan currency <CNY=CFXS> to
appreciate but the Chinese leader had no public comment on
either the yuan or the dollar.
                                
 Asian stock markets erased early gains by midday, with the
yen's strength against the ailing dollar weighing on shares of
Japanese exporters and offsetting gains in commodities-linked
shares after a surge in oil and gold prices overnight.
                                
 The Nikkei average <.N225> fell 0.7 percent, while the MSCI
index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> shed 0.4 percent after earlier hitting its
highest level since late July last year.
                                
 A global equities rally is showing signs of losing steam as
it extends into a ninth month. Investors are growing cautious
about the prospect for further significant gains amid forecasts
for only a sluggish economic recovery next year.
                                
 Bernanke's remarks on rates and better-than-expected U.S.
retail sales data had fueled broad gains on Wall Street
overnight, with the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rising
1.3 percent and the S&P 500 <SPX> climbing 1.5 percent. [.N]
                                
 Bernanke acknowledged in a speech that the dollar's slump
was raising some prices but said other factors restraining
inflation were winning the day, helping reinforce the market's
already benign view toward U.S. interest rates. [ID:nN16581813]
                                
 Gold <XAU=> took a breather after a record-setting rally
and was quoted at $1,137.60/8/40 an ounce in early Tuesday
trade, off a fresh high of $1,143.25 set on Monday, although
bullion continued to be supported by the dollar's weak outlook.
                                
 Spot gold prices have surged some 29 percent so far this
year.
                                
 U.S. crude futures <CLc1> dipped below $79 a barrel, after
settling more than 3 percent higher the previous day, as
investors awaited industry data on U.S. stockpiles later in the
day to gauge oil demand.
 (Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in SYDNEY; Editing by Kim
Coghill)