* U.S. rates path points to summer hike
* Oil and copper fall
* Monsanto (NYSE:MON) shares up after Bayer unveils bid
(Updates prices, adds European shares' close,)
By Caroline Valetkevitch and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK, May 23 (Reuters) - Short-dated U.S. Treasury
yields inched up on Monday while global stock markets were
little changed as investors weighed the possibility that U.S.
interest rates could soon rise.
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, while copper fell toward
three-month lows hit last week.
In the United States, an imminent rise in interest rates was
looking more probable. The Federal Reserve will likely tighten
policy a bit more quickly in 2017 than this year, by perhaps one
or two more rate hikes, San Francisco Fed President John
Williams said on Monday.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said 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.
Topping the agenda this week is whether U.S. economic data
adds to the likelihood of a June or July rate increase.
MSCI's all-country world stock index .MIWD00000PUS was
flat, while the U.S. S&P 500 index was also little changed.
"The market will be pretty rangebound until we get a better
sense of what's happening with the Fed," said Adam Sarhan, chief
executive of Sarhan Capital in New York.
"Right now, we're getting a lot of cross currents from the
central bank and investors are looking for more direction with
(Fed chief Janet) Yellen speaking on Friday."
Short-dated U.S. Treasury yields edged up, with the two-year
yield hovering at its highest in two months on Fed rate-hike
bets.
The yield on two-year Treasury bills 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 4/32 in price to yield 1.833 percent, down
from Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 37.05 points,
or 0.21 percent, to 17,537.99, the S&P 500 .SPX had gained
0.38 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,052.7 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC had added 9.26 points, or 0.19 percent, to 4,778.82.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 of leading
regional stocks ended down 0.5 percent.
Shares of Monsanto MON.N . were up 5.1 percent in afternoon
New York trading after Bayer unveiled a $62 billion bid for U.S.
seeds company Monsanto. Bayer AG BAYGn.DE weighed
on the European market.
Investors also digested economic data that showed euro zone
private sector growth in manufacturing and services slowing a
little in May, even though Germany continued to power ahead.
In currency markets, the U.S. dollar slipped against the yen
on Japanese trade data and U.S. resistance to currency
intervention from Tokyo.
The dollar was down 0.9 percent against the yen JPY= ,
while the dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback
against a basket of six major rivals, was last down 0.1 percent.
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 1
percent at $47.90 a barrel.
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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