By Alexia Vlahos

SANTIAGO, April 8 (Reuters) - Chilean shares closed slightly higher in low volume trade on Wednesday, as investors marked time on the eve of a central bank policy rate decision, while the peso finished slightly firmer.

The blue-chip IPSA .IPSA leading share index rose 0.24 percent to 2,543.19 points, preliminary closing data showed, while the all-share IGPA index .IGPA rose 0.2 percent to 12,139.32.

"While the stock market is obviously waiting for the central bank's decision, I think it will have a modest impact on the bourse," said Pamela Auszenker, head of research at the Bci brokerage. "I think today was a fair reflection of what happened in New York."

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 0.61 percent after falling 2.34 percent on Tuesday.

Chile's central bank is seen cutting its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points this month after more aggressive reductions in the first quarter as it seeks to combat global financial crisis, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.

The central bank slashed the rate by 6 percentage points in the first quarter to 2.25 percent, leading the charge by a rash of Latin American economies seeking to combat sharp slowdowns due to world financial turmoil.

Soquimich SQM_pb.SN, Chile's leading exporter of fertilizer and the world's biggest producer of iodine and lithium, rose 1.91 percent to 16,628 pesos a share.

Steelmaker CAP CAP.SN rose 0.31 percent to 9,395 pesos.