GLOBAL MARKETS - Gold at record as dlr drops, stocks up on data

By Daniel Bases

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gold investors gave thanks on Wednesday for another record high, while the dollar laid an egg, dropping to a fresh 15-month low against a basket of currencies after a batch of U.S. economic data suggested a recovery was gaining traction.

The data helped lift U.S. and European shares while driving government bond markets down. Japanese stocks rose in volatile trade.

The dollar's drop ahead of Thursday's U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday was not simply due to investors extending risk in reaction to falling weekly U.S. jobless claims as well as a rise in both consumer spending and sales of new homes.

Also playing a role in the greenback's fall was the U.S. Federal Reserve's release of minutes Tuesday that voiced increased confidence in the U.S. economic recovery and Russia's announcement it would diversify some foreign exchange reserves into Canadian dollars.

Investors shrugged off an unexpected decline in durable goods orders, a leading indicator of manufacturing activity.

A published report that India's central bank was interested in buying more gold beyond the 200 tonnes it purchased earlier this month from the International Monetary Fund also gave a strong bid to the precious metal. The IMF had no comment.

"Most commodities are rallying on the back of the weaker dollar, and that move is potentially quite significant," said Standard Chartered analyst Daniel Smith in London.

"Gold has been outperforming on the back of this general rally in commodities, and that tells us that there is more to this than just the dollar story," he said.