* Dollar sweeps higher on diverging outlook for global rates
* Japanese stocks at highest since 2008 as yen skids
* Gold, oil prices pressured by rising dollar
* Scottish independence vote looms, unionists just ahead
By Wayne Cole and Hideyuki Sano
SYDNEY/TOKYO, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Japanese shares jumped on Thursday after the dollar vaulted to a six-year peak on the yen as the Federal Reserve's outlook for rising rates underlined the diverging path between the United states and the rest of the rich world.
In other regional share markets, the reception was mixed, with MSCI's index of ex-Japan Asian shares falling to 12-week lows, on the spectre of rising U.S. rates and slower economic growth in China.
Still, with the Fed renewing its pledge to keep interest rates near zero for a considerable time, European shares are expected to open firmer. Spreadbetters see both Britain's FTSE and France's CAC40 rising 0.2 percent.
While the Fed maintained language suggesting that rate hikes would not happen for a "considerable time," it also indicated Fed policymakers think it could raise borrowing costs faster than expected when it starts moving.
The upshot was that the euro skidded to a 14-month trough while gold hit an eight-month low as the dollar swept higher across the board, a move that many investors have been itching to wager on all year.
The market reaction also overshadowed a surprisingly soft reading on U.S. inflation, even as Fed Chair Janet Yellen emphasised that policy would be highly dependent on how the economy actually performed in coming months.
"Overall, we feel that the forward guidance from the Fed is consistent with policy normalisation in 2015," said Dylan Eades, an economist at ANZ.
"Whilst the timing of the first rate rise is data dependent, we continue to expect that the FOMC will begin the normalisation process in March next year."
Futures markets still lean more towards a move in June. But whatever the timing, U.S. rates do seem certain to be heading higher while central banks in the euro zone and Japan remain committed to super-easy monetary policy.
That stark contrast sent the euro sinking as far as $1.2834 , depths last visited in July 2013. Measured against a basket of currencies, the dollar climbed to 84.753, the highest in 14 months.
The dollar also flew to 108.87 yen, its highest since September 2008 and up from around 107.00 before the Fed statement.
A weaker yen is generally viewed as positive for Japanese exports and company earnings, helping lift the Nikkei 1.1 percent to its best since January.
The broad Topix index climbed 1 percent to tread ground not visited since July, 2008.