* Wall St dips as growth catalysts sought
* Sterling slides as minister resignation raises split
concerns
* Dollar edges up after falling last week on dovish Fed
(Adds open of U.S. markets, changes dateline; previous LONDON)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, March 21 (Reuters) - Global equity markets slipped
on Monday as the dollar moved higher and U.S. Treasury yields
rose on bullish inflation projections from two Federal Reserve
officials.
Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said U.S. inflation is
likely to accelerate in coming years and move toward the Federal
Reserve's 2 percent target while San Francisco Fed President
John Williams told Market News International he would advocate
for another interest rate hike as early as the April meeting.
"There were some hawkish comments from a couple of Fed
officials, on the margin pointing to the potential for the Fed
to continue with their new path of normalization," said Ian
Lyngen, senior government bond strategist at CRT Capital in
Stamford, Connecticut.
Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart is set to speak on the
economic outlook and monetary policy at 1240 EDT (1640 GMT).
The dollar .DXY rose 0.16 percent to 95.234 against a
basket of major currencies. The greenback had fallen for three
straight weeks, a decline of 3.1 percent.
The dollar fell last week when U.S. Federal Reserve
policymakers revised down the number of times they expect to
raise interest rates this year to two from four.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR were last down 10/32 in
price to yield 1.9067 percent, up from 1.87 percent on Friday.
The stronger dollar weighed on European equities, with the
pan-European FTSEurofirst stock index .FTEU3 down 0.5 percent
at the start of a week shortened by the Easter break.
U.S. stocks also dipped slightly, with investors looking for
fresh catalysts after a five-week rally that pushed the S&P 500
into positive territory for the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 42.33 points,
or 0.24 percent, to 17,559.97, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 5.52
points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,044.06 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 8.80 points, or 0.18 percent, to 4,786.84.
MSCI's index of world shares .MIWD00000PUS was 0.36
percent lower.
Crude oil prices were weaker, but off early lows, with Brent
LCOc1 last down 0.1 percent to $41.16 and WTI CLc1 down 0.08
percent at $39.47 a barrel as the market digested news of a
modest rise in U.S. drilling activity. Uncertainty lingered,
however, over the outcome of a meeting of the world's major
exporters next month to discuss freezing output. XAU= fell 0.78 percent at $1,244.96 an ounce as the
dollar advanced, its third straight decline, but the metal was
underpinned by expectations that the ultra-low interest rate
environment will persist on a global level.
Copper CMCU3 edged up 0.19 percent to $5,051.50 a tonne on
expectations of stronger demand in top consumer China after a
jump in imports of refined copper by the world's second-largest
economy.
Sterling GBP= fell 0.73 percent to $1.4373 as worries
about Prime Minister David Cameron's ability to keep his
Conservative party together and keep Britain in the European
Union jumped after Iain Duncan Smith, a leading voice for the UK
to exit the EU, resigned from the cabinet late on Friday.