* U.S. rates path points to summer hike
* Oil and copper fall
* Monsanto (NYSE:MON) shares up after Bayer unveils bid
(Updates to U.S. markets openings; changes dateline, previous
LONDON)
By Caroline Valetkevitch and and Saqib Ahmed
NEW YORK, May 23 (Reuters) - Global stock markets were
little changed and the U.S. dollar gained on Monday as investors
weighed the possibility that U.S. interest rates could soon be
raised.
Commodities were weak across the board. Oil prices fell and
were on track for a fourth session of losses as investors
worried about global supply, and copper prices fell towards the
three-month lows hit last week.
In the United States, an imminent rise in interest rates was
looking more likely. The Federal Reserve will likely tighten
policy a bit quicker in 2017 than this year, by perhaps one or
two more interest rate hikes, San Francisco Fed President John
Williams said on Monday.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Monday a
relatively tight labor market in the United States may put
upward pressure on inflation, raising the case for higher
interest rates.
The Fed surprised investors when the central bank's meeting
minutes released last week opened the door to a rate hike as
early as in June, roiling financial markets.
Topping the agenda this week is whether U.S. data adds to
the likelihood of a June or July rate increase.
"Focus remains on the Fed's next move and as you take a look
at all the economic indicators we got last week, it certainly
suggests that the economy is improving," said Peter Cardillo,
chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.
MSCI's all-country world stock index .MIWD00000PUS was
flat, and the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of
leading regional stocks was down 0.5 percent.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was
up 16.92 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,517.86, the S&P 500
.SPX had lost 1.09 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,051.23 and
the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC had added 11.70 points, or 0.25
percent, to 4,781.26.
Shares of Monsanto were up 4.6 percent in late morning New
York trading after Bayer unveiled a $62 billion bid for U.S.
seeds company Monsanto MON.N . Bayer AG BAYGn.DE
declined in European trading.
Investors also digested economic data that showed euro zone
private sector growth in manufacturing and services slowing down
a little in May, even though Germany continued to power ahead.
In the currency markets, the U.S. dollar gained against the
euro, but slipped against the yen on Japanese trade data and
U.S. resistance to currency intervention from Tokyo.
The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback
against a basket of six major rivals, was last up 0.03 percent
to 95.36.
Brent crude prices LCOc1 were down 1 percent, on pace for
a four-day losing streak and matching a similar run in
mid-April, as investor focus returned to global supply, with
Iran insisting on a rise in oil exports and U.S. drillers
slowing the reduction in rigs. U.S. crude CLc1 was down 0.5
percent at $48.17.
Short-dated U.S. Treasury yields rose, with the two-year
yield hovering at its highest in two months on Fed rate-hike
bets.
The yield on two-year Treasury yield US2YT=RR hit 0.905
percent, within striking distance of the two-month peak of 0.920
percent set last Thursday. Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes
US10YT=RR were up 2/32 in price with a yield of 1.842 percent,
down 1 basis point from Friday.
In the metals market, benchmark copper CMCU3 on the London
Metal Exchange was down 0.3 percent at $4,565 a tonne at 1345
GMT.
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Shanghai CSI 300 and global effects interactive https://t.co/YqIYLIbInP
Chinese A-shares vs developed and emerging stocks http://link.reuters.com/rac25w
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