* U.S. shares fall on worries over nearing Fed rate hike
* Dollar hits nearly 3-week high vs basket of major rivals
* European shares gain on doubts over 2016 Fed rate hike
* Dollar's gains hurts oil, gold prices (Updates to open of U.S. trading; changes byline, dateline, pvs LONDON)
By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK, Aug 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday after stronger-than-expected U.S. consumer confidence data stoked worries about a potential Federal Reserve interest rate hike this year, while European shares gained and the dollar climbed.
Conference Board data showed U.S. consumer confidence rose to 101.1 in August, beating economists' expectations for a dip to 97.0, according to a Reuters poll. The data stoked expectations that the Fed could raise rates this year after top Federal Reserve officials have said recently that such a move was possible.
Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer, in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, said the U.S. job market is close to full strength and the pace of interest rate hikes will depend on how well the economy is doing. comments came after Fed Chair Janet Yellen painted a rosy picture of the U.S. economy at an economic symposium on Friday and said the case for a rate hike was strengthening. were still awaiting more clues on whether the Fed will hike in September or December, including Friday's U.S. August non-farm payrolls data. Some doubts as to whether the U.S. central bank will be able to move next month helped European shares gain. dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, strengthened to a nearly three-week high of 96.047 as investors looked ahead to Friday's jobs data. The report is expected to show employers added 180,000 jobs in August, according to a Reuters poll of economists. signs of strength make investors worry that the Fed will accelerate their plans to raise interest rates," said Alan Gayle, head of asset allocation at Atlanta-based RidgeWorth Investments.
MSCI's all-country world equity index .MIWD00000PUS was last down 0.15 points, or 0.04 percent, at 417.89.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was last down 49.04 points, or 0.27 percent, at 18,453.95. The S&P 500 .SPX was down 4.35 points, or 0.2 percent, at 2,176.03. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 9.62 points, or 0.18 percent, at 5,222.71.
Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 was last up 0.63 percent, at 1,358.88.
Oil prices fell for a second straight day in response to the dollar's strength, but the downside was limited by production suspensions in the U.S. Gulf, due to an expected tropical storm. A strong greenback makes fuel purchases more expensive for countries using other currencies domestically. crude LCOc1 was last down 60 cents, or 1.22 percent, at $48.66 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 was down 39 cents, or 0.83 percent, at $46.59 per barrel.
U.S. Treasury yields were little changed as traders awaited the U.S. jobs data. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields US10YT=RR were last at 1.565 percent, roughly unchanged from late Monday. higher numbers come out (on the jobs report) and we get another strong reading, that could automatically boost odds of a September rate hike," said Ninh Chung, head of portfolio management at SVB Asset Management in San Francisco.
The stronger dollar weighed on safe-haven gold prices. Spot gold prices XAU= were last down $4.64, or 0.35 percent, at $1,318.37 an ounce.