GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks slip for third day, dollar recovers ground

* U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . stocks little changed in choppy trade

* Investors nervous over central banks

* HSBC, SocGen (Paris: FR0000130809 - news) lift European financials

* Oil jumps on big U.S. gasoline drawdown data

* Dollar rallies after losses; focus on U.S. jobs data (Updates to U.S. trading, changes byline, dateline; previous LONDON)

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed

NEW YORK, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Global equity prices slipped for a third straight day on Wednesday, pressured by growing nervousness about central bank policy and spiking world bond yields, while the dollar firmed as investors turned their focus to Friday's U.S. payrolls data.

Oil edged higher on light short-covering after falling to lows last seen in April the previous day.

Global equity prices, weighed down by a sharp drop in Japanese stocks on surging Japanese government bond yields and a strengthening yen, found little support from Wall Street.

MSCI (NYSE: MSCI - news) 's world stocks index, which tracks shares in 45 nations, was down 0.37 percent.

"The central banking issue is more of a factor of everybody trying to stimulate their economies, and how much more can you do?," said Scott Fullman, chief strategist at Revere Securities LLC.

The recent outbreak of weaker U.S. data has further pushed back expectations for when the Federal Reserve might raise benchmark U.S. interest rates.

UK services sector data on Wednesday showed Britain's economy is shrinking at the fastest pace since 2009, upping the ante on the Bank of England not to under-deliver at its policy meeting on Thursday.

The recent drop in oil prices and concerns about the strength of European banks, were among some of the other factors that have halted the rally in equity prices, Fullman said.

U.S. stocks were little changed in choppy trading as declines in healthcare and consumer stocks were offset by gains in energy and financials.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 22.02 points, or 0.12 percent, to 18,335.79, the S&P 500 gained 2.02 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,159.05 and the Nasdaq Composite added 4.78 points, or 0.09 percent, to 5,142.52.

European stocks were steady as a rebound in the shares of the region's struggling banks offset weaker auto stocks.

Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.12 percent at 1,322.84.

The dollar edged higher, recovering from six-week lows hit the previous session, as investors squared positions ahead of Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, data that should help determine the timing of the next U.S. rate hike.

The greenback, which took a big hit after last week's disappointing U.S. growth data, got a minor boost on Wednesday from strong hiring data from the private sector.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, was up 0.36 percent to 95.410.

Oil prices jumped about 2 percent, with U.S. crude futures returning above $40 a barrel, after the U.S. government reported a larger-than-expected gasoline drawdown that offset a surprise build in crude stockpiles.

Brent crude was up 2.2 percent at $42.71 a barrel, while U.S. crude was up 2.4 percent at $40.46.

In bond markets, U.S. Treasury yields edged higher on fears that overseas yields could rise again, and as foreign investors held off on buying U.S. government debt ahead of Friday's U.S. jobs data.

Benchmark 10-year Treasuries prices were down 6/32 to yield 1.561 percent, from a yield of 1.537 percent late Tuesday.

Spot gold prices were down 0.46 percent to $1,356.98 an ounce.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)