GLOBAL MARKETS-Gold sets new all-time peak as stocks waver

                                

                                
 * Stocks waver on poor reading of U.S. consumer sentiment
                                
 * Oil drops for fourth day on slide in consumer sentiment
                                
 * Dollar nears month high versus yen as euro slips
                                
  * U.S., Treasuries rise after downbeat U.S. data
 (Adds close of U.S. markets)
                                
 By Herbert Lash
                                
 NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Global stocks wavered and oil
prices sank on Friday after a worse-than-expected reading of
U.S. consumer sentiment pricked optimism over upbeat earnings
from Oracle, while gold prices hit a third high for the week.
                                
 Gold surged to an all-time peak of $1,282.75 an ounce in
European trading on speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve may
move to increase the money supply in an effort to boost growth
and stave off a possible slide back into recession. For details
see: [ID:nLDE68G0YF]
                                
 The weak U.S. consumer data and fresh worries over European
debt hurt the euro and enhanced the dollar's safe-haven appeal.
The yen fell near a one-month low against the U.S. dollar on
worries that Japan will again intervene in currency markets
after its first entry in six years on Wednesday.
 [ID:nN17267092]
                                
 Although other data showed muted U.S. inflation in August,
the slide in consumer sentiment to a 13-month low in the first
part of September kept fears of deflation alive and supported
safe-haven assets such as U.S. Treasuries. [ID:nN17127427]
                                
 "I'm not surprised to see the market struggling a bit on
this," Matthew Strauss, senior currency strategist at RBC
Capital Markets in Toronto, said of the consumer sentiment
report. "It plays into the uncertainties about what a
sustainable recovery would look like."
                                
 Major stock indexes meandered around break-even for much of
the day, with MSCI's all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS>
ending flat for the day.
                                
 Wall Street opened sharply higher, with the benchmark S&P
500 Index breaking through a June 21 intraday high after
bellwether Oracle Corp <ORCL.O> reported better-than-expected
results and an upbeat outlook late Thursday. [ID:nN16154992]
                                
 The benchmark S&P 500 briefly overcame technical resistance
around 1,130 to push through intraday highs set in June and
August. But a decisive move above that level, which on solid
volume would be a bullish sign, did not happen.
                                
 "We're in a period right now where the market is correcting
down from its highs," said Marty Mitchell, head of government
bond trading at Stifel Nicolaus in Baltimore. "And absent this
type of external European events, the market feels like it
wants to try to correct a little bit lower."
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 13.02
points, or 0.12 percent, at 10,607.85. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> added 0.93 point, or 0.08 percent, to
1,125.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> climbed 12.36
points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,315.61.
                                
 U.S. crude oil futures ended with their worst weekly
percentage loss in five weeks after being pummeled earlier in
the week by the expected restart of a major crude pipeline from
Canada into the United States.
                                
 U.S. crude for October <CLc1> delivery fell 91 cents, or
1.22 percent, to settle at $73.66 per barrel. The contract
expires on Tuesday.
                                
 U.S. November crude <CLX0> fell 82 cents, or 1.08 percent,
to settle at $74.63 a barrel and ICE Brent for November <LCOc1>
fell 37 cents to $78.11 at 2:43 p.m. EDT (1843 GMT).
                                
 U.S. government debt prices rose.
                                
 The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was
last up 5/32 in price to yield 2.74 percent.
                                
 The dollar, which fell to a 15-year low beneath 83 yen
before Japan intervened on Wednesday, was up 1.8 percent
against the yen for the week, its best week since late April.
                                
 On Friday, it was unchanged at 85.78 yen <JPY=>, while the
euro was down 0.2 percent at $1.3041 <EUR=>, well off a session
peak of $1.3159.  
                                
 U.S. December gold futures <GCZ0> settled up $3.70 at
$1,277.50 an ounce.
                                
 Copper rose to a 4-1/2 month high as falling inventories
and reassuring comments from China's central bank on monetary
policy boosted industrial metals. [ID:nLDE68G0SH]
                                
 Overnight in Asia, the Nikkei share average <.N225> rose
1.2 percent, capping a 4.2 percent gain for the week that was
the biggest weekly advance since December 2009, after
intervention in the yen brightened the prospects of exporters.
                                
 MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.0
percent <.MIAPJ0000PUS>.
 (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak, Steven C. Johnson, Burton
Frierson, Gene Ramos and Frank Tang in New York; Writing by
Herbert Lash; Editing by Dan Grebler)