* MSCI Asia-Pac index highest since 2007, Nikkei hits 21-yr peak
* Spreadbetters expect mixed start for European stocks
* Dollar index slips to 2-week low after Fed minutes
* Mexican peso, Canadian dollar firmer but wary of NAFTA talks
* Oil prices dip after 3 days of gains
By Shinichi Saoshiro
TOKYO, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Asian stocks reached a 10-year high on Thursday, riding the bull run in global equity markets, while the dollar sagged after the Federal Reserve showed a more guarded view towards inflation.
Spreadbetters expected a mixed start for European stocks, forecasting Britain's FTSE to open down 0.05 percent, Germany's DAX to start 0.03 percent higher France's CAC to open flat.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.55 percent and at its highest since December 2007.
Japan's Nikkei was up 0.4 percent after brushing 20,994.40, its highest since November 1996. South Korea's KOSPI added 0.55 percent to mark a fresh record peak and Hong Kong's Hang Seng scaled a decade-high.
Asia took cues from Wall Street, where major indexes rose to yet another set of record closing highs overnight following a report that a market-friendly candidate was being pushed as successor to Janet Yellen at the helm of the Fed.
Broader investor risk sentiment has improved this week after Catalonia dialled back plans to break away from Spain, with MSCI's 47-country world stocks index reaching a record high.
Global equities now appear to be taking geopolitical developments such as the secessionist push in Spain and tensions on the Korean peninsula in their stride, to reach those record tops.
"Fundamentally, the global economy is in decent shape. Corporate sentiment is also sound as evidenced by strong data like the Chinese PMI, U.S. ISM and Japanese tankan. All these factors are leading to the rise in global stocks," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management in Tokyo.
"Financial markets will remain wary of geopolitical headlines. But barring actual military conflicts, negative responses by equities are expected to be short-lived."
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies slipped to a two-week low of 92.821 following the release of the minutes from the Fed's last policy meeting on Sept. 19-20.
Fed policymakers had a prolonged debate about the prospects of a pickup in inflation and the path of future interest rate rises if it did not, the minutes showed.
While this did little to cool expectations for the Fed to raise interest rates in December, it did make the central bank appear slightly less hawkish than it seemed right after the September policy meeting when it signalled the year-end monetary tightening.