* Stock prices worldwide hit record highs on oil, tax cut hopes
* Crude futures rally on surprise drop in U.S. crude inventory
* Dollar index slips on perceived less hawkish Fed minutes
* U.S. 10-year yield hits 2-week low, gold reaches 3-month high (Update market action, change dateline, previous LONDON)
By Richard Leong
NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Global stock prices posted record highs for a third straight session on Thursday, propelled by an oil rally after a surprise drop in U.S. crude inventories and comments by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about pursuing significant tax reform.
The dollar was bogged down a day after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's Jan. 31-Feb. 1 policy meeting showed the central bank was in no rush to raise interest rates.
Treasury and euro zone government bond yields declined as ECB policymakers also signalled they were not getting carried away by signs the euro zone economy is gathering strength.
This outlook for policy accommodation lifted gold prices to a three-month high near $1,250 an ounce. markets around the world have advanced this year as traders bet on tax cuts, less regulation and more infrastructure spending from U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress to bolster the U.S. economy.
Details on these stimulus programs have been sparse, raising doubts whether bigger corporate profits will materialize.
On Thursday, Mnuchin spoke of wanting to see "very significant" tax reform passed before Congress' August recess and said the Trump administration was looking closely at border tax issues. starting to put some details on tax reform. That's reigniting some of the animal spirits," said Bill Northey, chief investment officer for the private client group at U.S. Bank in Helena, Montana.
The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS , which tracks shares in 46 nations, rose 0.48 points or 0.11 percent, to 446.52 after touching a record peak at 447.67.
On Wall Street, the Dow booked an all-time intraday high for a 10th straight day, while S&P 500 touched a record high before retreating.
In morning trading, the Dow .DJI rose 22.48 points, or 0.11 percent, to 20,798.08, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.81 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,361.01 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 27.04 points, or 0.46 percent, to 5,833.58.
Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 dipped 0.07 percent at 1,471.82, scaling back further from its 14-month peak set on Wednesday.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.89 points or 0.19 percent, to 471.69, after reaching its highest since July 2015 earlier Thursday.
Gains in energy shares due to a jump in oil prices helped lift the equity market.
Brent crude LCOc1 was last up $1.18, or 2.11 percent, at $57.02 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 was last up $1.09, or 2.03 percent, at $54.68. weaker dollar in the wake of Fed minutes that were perceived as less hawkish whet appetite for gold and bonds.
The dollar index .DXY slipped 0.26 percent at 100.95.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield US10YT=RR was down over 2 basis points at 2.392 percent after hitting a two-week low. German 10-year Bund yield DE10YT=RR decreased 2 basis points at 0.251 percent, hovering at its lowest level since early January.
Spot gold prices XAU= rose $8.80 or 0.71 percent, to $1,246.11 an ounce.
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http://reut.rs/1WAiOSC Global currencies vs. dollar
http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh Global bonds dashboard
http://tmsnrt.rs/2fPTds0 World FX rates in 2017
http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh 2017 asset returns
http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
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