* Analysts, traders see U.S. Fed not raising rates
* U.S. short-term yields hold near 4 1/2-year high
* Oil prices edge lower, spot gold retreats
(Updates market action, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
By Richard Leong
NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - World stock prices held near
three-week highs and the dollar fell on Thursday as investors
awaited whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will end its near-zero
interest rate policy.
A poll by Reuters released on Wednesday showed the majority
of economists now expect no hike later on Thursday, although it
remains a close call. The futures market implied traders
assigned a 1-in-4 chance of such a move. ID:nL4N11L32T
"Investors are in wait-and-see mode," said Art Hogan, chief
market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York.
Mixed U.S. data on jobless claims, housing starts and
regional manufacturing did little to change traders' view on the
timing of the Fed's "lift-off."
U.S. two-year Treasuries yield US2YT=RR held below a near
4-1/2 year high. Oil prices were marginally lower, while gold
gave back a bit of Wednesday's gains.
Traders had expected the Fed to raise rates for most of this
year, but those expectations faded following a bout of global
market turmoil this summer on worries about China.
As the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's
policy-setting group, releases its policy statement at 2 p.m.
(1800 GMT), it will put forth its quarterly Summary of Economic
Projections (SEP), also referred to as "dot plots," that present
individual forecasts of policymakers.
At 2:30 p.m. (1830 GMT), Fed Chair Janet Yellen will hold a
news conference where she will likely face a barrage of
questions on the central bank's policy stance and economic
outlook. FED/DIARY
The dot plots and Yellen's responses will likely stir wild
swings across markets, analysts said.
In early U.S. trading, the Dow Jones industrial average
.DJI fell 10.79 points, or 0.06 percent, to 16,729.16, the S&P
500 .SPX declined 0.2 points, or 0.01 percent, to 1,995.11 and
the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC shed 8.01 points, or 0.16 percent,
to 4,897.24.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 was little
changed at 1,428.27.
Tokyo's Nikkei index .N225 ended up 1.4 percent. .T
The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks
shares in 45 nations, rose 0.2 percent to 399.64.
The dollar index .DXY , which tracks the greenback versus a
basket of six currencies, fell 0.28 percent, to 95.151.
Brent crude LCOc1 was last down 26 cents, or down 0.52
percent, at $49.49 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 was last down 23
cents, or 0.49 percent, at $46.93 per barrel.
Spot gold prices XAU= fell 0.12 percent to $1,117.81 an
ounce.