* Dollar on track for strongest week in a month
* Stocks lower as energy sector weighs
* Sterling hit by Brexit concerns
(Adds close of European markets)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) - Global equity markets fell
and the dollar advanced on Wednesday as hawkish comments by
Federal Reserve officials raised the possibility of more U.S.
interest rates hikes this year than investors are anticipating.
The dollar .DXY was up 0.48 percent to 96.104 against a
basket of major currencies, moving towards its first weekly gain
in four weeks.
Last week, U.S. central bank policymakers cut in half the
number of rate hikes projected in 2016 to two, weakening
expectations for a move at either the April or June policy
meetings. Fed Chair Janet Yellen later told reporters that
"caution is appropriate" when it comes to raising rates.
But in the past two days, several Fed officials have
expressed views that suggest an appetite for more hikes
regardless of the volatility that has been the hallmark of
financial markets this year.
"We had the battling Fed governors out there. They seem to
be disagreeing with what Yellen had said, so it's creating some
uncertainty out there," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice
president at BB&T (NYSE:BBT) Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.
"To the extent that the Fed is in play for a rate increase
sooner than later, the currency trade is for a stronger dollar."
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, who is not a
voting member of the policy-setting Federal Open Market
Committee this year, said on Tuesday the central bank should
consider another rate hike as early as next month. He is
scheduled to speak again at 5:30 p.m. EDT (2130 GMT) on
Wednesday.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who is a voting
member of the FOMC in 2016, said on Bloomberg TV on Wednesday he
would like to see further stabilization in inflation
expectations.
The stronger dollar also dampened demand for oil, while a
report showing U.S. crude stockpiles soared to record highs for
a sixth straight week, tripling what analysts had expected,
rekindled worries of a glut and further pressured the commodity.
The weakness in energy names also helped push stocks lower
in the United States and Europe. The STOXX Europe 600 oil and
gas index .SXEP and the S&P energy index .SPNY were both off
at least 1.6 percent, with the latter the worst performing of
the 10 major S&P sectors.
The FTSEuroFirst 300 index .FTEU3 of leading shares closed
down 0.11 percent at 1,336.70. MSCI's index of world shares
.MIWD00000PUS lost 0.65 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 31.02 points,
or 0.18 percent, to 17,551.55, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 8.39
points, or 0.41 percent, to 2,041.41 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 37.66 points, or 0.78 percent, to 4,784.00.
Gold XAU= also weakened in the face of the stronger
dollar, down 2 percent to $1,223.62 after hitting a low of
$1,215.10, its lowest level since Feb. 26.
Britain's pound slumped 0.75 percent to $1.41 amid rising
concerns that Tuesday's attacks in Brussels would bolster the
campaign for a vote to leave the European Union in June's
"Brexit" referendum.
Derivatives allowing investors to insure themselves against
sharp moves in sterling exchange rates ahead of that vote
reached their highest level since the 2010 elections.
Benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR were last up 12/32
in price to yield 1.8927 percent, down from 1.935 percent on
Tuesday.
Global assets in 2015 http://link.reuters.com/dub25t
Commodities performance http://link.reuters.com/rac73w
Currencies vs dollar http://link.reuters.com/tak27s
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