* U.S. crude ends up but off highs of session
* Wall Street edges higher
* U.S. dollar broadly weaker ahead of Fed meeting (Adds U.S. oil price settlement, updates trading)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - World stock indexes edged higher and the U.S. dollar weakened on Monday on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged after its policymakers meet this week, while oil prices surged from multi-week lows.
U.S. Treasuries yields dipped as traders booked profit ahead of this week's policymaking meetings at both the Fed and the Bank of Japan.
Weak recent U.S. data has boosted bets that the Fed will skip the chance to raise rates at this meeting. Japan, policymakers could well go in the opposite direction by easing policy, though conflicting reports on what the central bank might do have stoked uncertainty.
Sources have said the BoJ will consider making negative interest rates the centerpiece of future policy easing by shifting its prime policy target away from base money. central bank meetings are scheduled for Sept. 20-21.
"The market is resigned to believing that (the Fed is) not going to raise rates this week," said Thierry Albert Wizman, global interest rates and currencies strategist at Macquarie Ltd in New York.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last down 0.3 percent at 95.837 .DXY after hitting a 15-day high of 96.108 on Friday.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR were up 4/32 in price for a yield of 1.687 percent, down 0.5 basis point from late on Friday. prices rose after Venezuela said OPEC and non-OPEC producers were close to a deal to stabilize the market. crude futures LCOc1 were up 0.7 percent at $46.09 a barrel and U.S. crude CLc1 gained 0.6 percent to settle at $43.30, off highs of earlier in the day. Last week, Brent hit a two-week low and U.S. crude fell to a five-week low.
The benchmark S&P 500 index pared early gains and was last trading only slightly higher, with investors still cautious following recent days of volatility.
"People will want the uncertainty of the (Fed) meeting out of the way," said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut. "People will start re-engaging once the uncertainty has passed."
The S&P energy index .SPNY was up 0.3 percent, while the rate-sensitive S&P financial index .SPSY was up 0.7 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 37.59 points, or 0.21 percent, to 18,161.39, the S&P 500 .SPX had gained 4.38 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,143.54 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC had added 0.59 points, or 0.01 percent, to 5,245.16.
MSCI's all-country world stock index < .MIWD00000PUS> was up 0.6 percent, while European shares .FTEU3 closed up 1 percent.
Assuming no move on policy at the Fed meeting, the focus will be on the Federal Open Market Committee's forecasts for the fed funds rate.
There was little discernible market reaction to weekend bombings in New York City and New Jersey and a stabbing at a Minnesota shopping mall.
In the metals market, gold prices rose as the dollar slipped. Spot gold XAU= was 0.4 percent higher at $1,315.05 an ounce.
For Reuters new Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets see reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageId=livemarkets