* Oil boosted by smaller than forecast U.S. stockpile growth
* Stocks drop in Europe after strong rally a day earlier
* Apple (O:AAPL), energy stocks lead gains on Wall St
* Dollar treads water after hitting 7-month high
(Adds U.S markets opening; changes dateline from LONDON)
By Lewis Krauskopf
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose and Treasury
prices fell on Wednesday as investors awaited minutes for the
U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting amid expectations of an
impending rate hike.
The major European stock index fell, after a strong rally on
Tuesday, as security issues remained a focus for investors.
A woman suicide bomber blew herself up and another militant
died when police raided an apartment in a Paris suburb seeking
suspects in last week's attacks in the French capital that
killed 129 people.
"All eyes are on the Fed, while geopolitical concerns
remains on the minds of the investors," said Peter Cardillo,
chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 102.78 points,
or 0.59 percent, to 17,592.28, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 11.52
points, or 0.56 percent, to 2,061.96 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC added 31.71 points, or 0.64 percent, to 5,017.72.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 , which had
risen 2.6 percent on Tuesday, fell 0.3 percent, with industrial
gas company Air Liquide AIRP.PA off sharply after announcing
an expensive-looking acquisition. The French CAC 40 index
.FCHI fell 0.7 percent.
An index of major global markets rose 0.2 percent.
"The indices are treading water today ... there seems to be
a little bit of trepidation at the moment because of what's been
going on in Paris this morning and overnight," said Augustin
Eden, research analyst at Accendo Markets.
The U.S. dollar .DXY edged up 0.1 percent against a basket
of currencies after hitting a seven-month high on Tuesday, while
the euro EUR= rose 0.05 percent against the greenback. The
dollar index has risen more than 6 percent in the past month.
Due at 2:00 p.m. ET (1900 GMT), the minutes of the Fed's
meeting are expected to give investors clues on the central
bank's reading of the economy. Meanwhile, two Fed officials
expressed confidence that they will be able to pull off a
relatively smooth interest-rate hike when the time comes.
"It will be a case of range-trading going into the Fed
minutes. We could see some positions being pared, with the
dollar having risen in the past few weeks," said Jeremy Stretch,
head of currency strategy at CIBC World Markets.
U.S. housing starts in October fell to a seven-month low as
single-family home construction in the South tumbled, but a
surge in building permits suggested the housing market remained
on solid ground.
Benchmark 10-year Treasuries notes US10YT=RR were down
8/32 in price for a yield of 2.2887 percent.
German Bunds DE10YT=TWEB yields slipped 1.5 basis points
to 0.517 percent.
"There is a bit of a safety bid for core bonds from the
nervous energy around events in Paris," said Matthew Cairns,
fixed income strategist at Rabobank.
Oil prices rebounded on reports of falling stockpiles and
rising U.S. refinery activity, after declines a day earlier.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 0.6 percent at $43.84
per barrel. U.S. crude futures CLc1 were up 0.4 percent at
$40.83 a barrel. U.S. data showed a smaller than forecast build
in crude inventories.
Zinc, lead and nickel fell, to around their lowest points in
five to seven years, as fears persisted over waning demand in
top metals user China.
Spot gold slipped 0.1 percent, trading around 2010
lows.