Asia shares gain, gold hits record high

HONG KONG/SEOUL (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve raised U.S. growth forecasts for 2010, while gold struck a record high on a weaker dollar and a media report India was "open to buying" more of the precious metal.

European shares were seen rising on the improved prospects for the U.S. economy and U.S. S&P 500 futures were up 0.3 percent.

The dollar fell to its lowest in seven weeks against the yen and remained under pressure against other major currencies on a combination of factors including expectations that U.S. interest rates will remain low for some time.

Spot gold, which has risen 13 percent so far this month, held above $1,177.4 per ounce after hitting a high of $1,178.3 on a weakening dollar and the India's Financial Chronicle newspaper report.

"The India report has certainly helped to push the momentum in the market today," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia.

Asian stock markets held firm, with the MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks traded outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rising 0.81 percent. The Thomson Reuters index of regional shares (.TRXFLDAXPU) was up 1.29 percent.

Tokyo stock market's benchmark Nikkei average (.N225) turned higher after sliding to a four-month intraday low, but the outlook remained murky on doubts about the health of the world's second-largest economy.

As confidence in Japan's economy wanes, financial markets have been reflecting some of that concern with the stock market trailing rest of the region significantly these past few weeks.

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