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* Anxiety over imminent Syrian attack eases, caution rules
* Global equities up; Wall St gains, Nasdaq up 1 pct
* Dollar gains after U.S. GDP, jobless reinforce Fedtapering view
* Oil retreats from 6-month peak, gold off 3-1/2 month high
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Strong growth in the U.S.economy and signs of a delay in expected Western militarystrikes on Syria lifted equities worldwide on Thursday andpushed the dollar to two-week peaks.
Brent crude oil eased off a six-month high as traders soldcontracts to book profits as fears of a U.S.-led military strikeon Syria waned and after the market had its biggest two-dayrally in more than 1-1/2 years.
Wall Street rose for a second day, boosted by telecom stocksafter a possible large deal between Vodafone and Verizon.
Data showed the American economy grew more quickly thanexpected in the second quarter, and weekly claims forunemployment benefits fell, bolstering the case for the FederalReserve to begin winding down its massive economic stimulusprogram.
In the currency market, the dollar hit a two-week peak, andwas on track for its largest daily gain against the euro in morethan four months.
The dollar was last 0.7 percent higher against a basket ofcurrencies at 82.018, after earlier hitting 82.067, itshighest since Aug. 5. Against the safe-haven Japanese yen, thegreenback traded up 0.7 percent at 98.34 <JPY= yen>.
Most major risk asset markets had already been recoveringahead of the U.S economic data on signs that divisions amonglawmakers in Britain and the United States would delay anyimminent action on Syria in retaliation for alleged gas attackslast week.
The market got "a little out over its skis and thepoliticians did as well," said Addison Armstrong, director ofmarket research at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut."Traders are taking some risk off the table and taking a waitand see approach."
President Barack Obama has told Americans a military strikeagainst Syria is in their interests, and administrationofficials are expected to brief congressional leaders onThursday about plans to respond.
Brent for October delivery hit a low of $114.94 abarrel, down $1.67, before recovering to trade around $116.00.It jumped over 5 percent in the previous two sessions, postingits strongest two-day gain since January 2012.
October U.S. crude fell $1.50 to a low of $108.60 abarrel before rallying to around $109.30, following a near 4percent gain over the past two days.
Traditional safe-haven gold eased 0.5 percent toaround $1,413 an ounce after reaching a 3-1/2 month high inWednesday's flight to safety.
In emerging markets, Brazil's decision to raise itsbenchmark interest rate to a 16-month high of 9percent on Wednesday helped stabilize the real, while inIndonesia the rupiah strengthened slightly after its centralbank hiked its key lending rates.
The Indian rupee rose as high as 66.85 per dollar, upsharply from a record low of 68.85 per dollar hit on Wednesdaywhen its central bank moved to provide dollars directly to oilcompanies to give the currency some relief.
Emerging market currencies in countries with high currentaccount deficits such as India, Turkey and Brazil have plungedbetween 12 and 18 percent against the dollar this year onexpectations of a withdrawal of the U.S. monetary stimulus thathas boosted riskier assets.
Prices for U.S. 10-year Treasuries pared losses to tradeflat on Thursday after an auction of seven-year debt. Thebenchmark 10-year note rose 1/32 in price to yield2.764 percent.
CALM RETURNS
The better tone in world equity markets emerged after energyshares on Wall Street gained on the rise in oil prices, and thisspread to Asia, where MSCI's Asia-Pacific index, excluding Japan, rose 1.2 percent.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average wasup 44.35 points, or 0.30 percent, at 14,868.86. The Standard &Poor's 500 Index was up 7.06 points, or 0.43 percent, at1,642.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 32.96points, or 0.92 percent, at 3,626.31.
In Europe, bumper gains among telecom stocks powered arebound in equities after Vodafone confirmed it was intalks with Verizon to sell out of its U.S. joint venture.
The FTSEurofirst 300 closed up 0.7 percent at1,207.05 points, bouncing back after falls of some 2 percentover the last two days.
However, an auction of new Italian debt showed investorsremained concerned about the shaky coalition, with governmentborrowing costs over five years rising.
The MSCI world equity index, which tracksshares in 45 countries, was up 0.4 percent.
