* Brent crude tops $120 a barrel on Middle East unrest
* Corn futures match record-high price from 2008
* Wall Street little changed ahead of earnings season
* Euro slips back after hitting multi-month highs
(Rewrites, updates prices, adds details)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - Commodities rose on Monday as
Brent crude topped $120 a barrel on concerns over the impact on
supply from unrest in the Middle East, while corn surged to
match a record-high price set during the 2008 global food
crisis.
Merger and acquisition activity helped global equities eke
out gains. Wall Street was little changed, as the broad S&P 500
<.SPX> struggled to break above its high for the year ahead of
the quarterly earnings season that kicks off next week.
Expectations of higher euro zone interest rates took the
euro briefly to an 11-month high against the Japanese yen,
before easing back with expectations of an increase already
priced in.
Brent crude oil prices rose above $120 a barrel to the
highest level since before the collapse of Lehman Brothers and
the global financial crisis in September 2008. After choppy
trading, U.S. crude settled up 53 cents at $108.47 a barrel,
the highest close since September 2008.
Libya's continuing conflict and unrest in Yemen could pose
threats to supply in the Middle East, while investors expect
demand for oil could grow on signs of improvement in the U.S.
economy.
Corn futures extended a rally that began last week when the
U.S. Department of Agriculture pegged quarterly corn stocks as
of March 1 at levels well below trade expectations, with
tightening supply underscoring the strong demand for the feed
grain. For details, see []
"There are no signs saying corn won't go higher. Stocks
were bullish for corn and now planting weather doesn't look
good," said Mario Balletto, analyst for Citigroup.
Earlier in the day, spot corn equaled its record high of
$7.65 per bushel set on June 27, 2008. Chicago Board of Trade
corn futures unofficially ended up at $7.59.
EQUITIES STRUGGLE
World stocks as measured by MSCI <.MIWD00000PUS> were up
0.3 percent, hovering around a one-month high and up nearly 5
percent for the year to date. European shares rose to a
three-week closing high.
Among the day's M&A, Belgian chemicals group Solvay
<SOLB.BR> bid for French rival Rhodia <RHA.PA>, driving up
Rhodia's shares 48 percent, and Vodafone <VOD.L> said it was
selling its 44 percent stake in France's second biggest telecom
operator SFR to Vivendi <VIV.PA>. []
[]
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> closed up 0.04 percent at
1,142,84 points, the highest close since March 9. But the S&P
was slightly lower in the early afternoon, hovering just under
1,333, a level that it has been unable to close above since
mid-February.
The S&P recorded its best two-week period since December on
Friday and the Dow industrials <> hit the highest intraday
level since June 2008.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> added 10.33 points,
or 0.08 percent, to 12,387.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> was off 1.50 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,330.91. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> dipped 6.19 points, or 0.22
percent, to 2,783.41.
Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global
Asset Management in Boston, said the earnings season would
likely push the S&P 500 to 1,400 by mid-May as stocks come off
the seasonally strong November-April period.
"If we make a successful break from here, I think you've
got the 1,400 range and I think that's probably likely during
the final seasonally favorable push," Zaro said.
Economic improvement has cemented expectations that the ECB
will raise interest rates Thursday and led to speculation the
U.S. Federal Reserve may be getting closer to withdrawing
exceptional liquidity. []
A top Federal Reserve official said on Monday that U.S.
inflation is likely to remain low for now, but policymakers
will keep a close eye on potentially self-fulfilling consumer
expectations for higher prices. []
Reflecting expectations of differing rate paths, the euro
hit an 11-month high against the yen and touched a five-month
peak against the dollar. The euro later slipped back.
The euro briefly popped above 120 yen <EURJPY=R> for the
first time since May 2010 and was later at 119.50 yen. It hit a
five-month high against the dollar of $1.4269 and was later at
$1.4223 <EUR=>.
(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Additional reporting by Edward
Krudy and Robert Gibbons in New York, Carey Gillam in Kansas
City and Atul Prakash in London; Editing by Leslie Adler)
