GLOBAL MARKETS-Oil up on Middle East; M&A boosts equities

                                
 * Brent crude tops $120 a barrel on Middle East unrest
                                
 * Corn futures match record-high price from 2008
                                
 * Wall Street ends little changed ahead of earnings season
                                
 * Euro slips back after hitting multi-month highs
 (Adds details)
                                
 By Leah Schnurr
                                
 NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - Commodities prices 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 ended little changed, but the M&A trend
revved up after the closing bell, with Texas Instruments
<TXN.N> saying it will buy National Semiconductor <NSM.N> for
about $6.5 billion in cash.  For details, see [ID:nN04281619]
                                
 The euro hovered near a five-month peak against the dollar
and an 11-month high against the yen, with near-term strength
seen limited as an expected euro zone interest rate rise was
mostly priced in.
                                
 Brent crude oil futures <LCOc1> settled up $2.36 at $121.06
after reaching $121.29, the highest intraday price since August
2008. After choppy trading, U.S. crude <CLc1> settled up 53
cents at $108.47 a barrel, the highest close since September
2008.
                                
 Nigerian election delays and a short-lived strike in Gabon
added to the list of geopolitical supply concerns. 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 [ID:nN04272201]
                                
 "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 with the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> up
0.04 percent at 1,142,84.
                                
 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>. [ID:nLDE66P0SY] [ID:nLDE73319N]
                                
 On Wall Street, the S&P 500 ended slightly higher but
failed to break above the 1,333 closing level last hit in
mid-February. Caution ahead of earnings season held volume to
its lowest of the year and suggested the recent rally may be
fading.
                                
 "Volume has dried up here as investors and traders are
sitting on their positions to see what happens" in the upcoming
earnings season, said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of
Solaris Asset Management in Bedford, New York.
                                
 Shares of National Semiconductor surged more than 73
percent to $24.41 after the deal announcement, while Texas
Instruments dipped 1.5 percent to $33.60.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> added 23.31 points,
or 0.19 percent, to 12,400.03. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> edged up 0.46 point, or 0.03 percent, at 1,332.87. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dipped 0.41 point, or 0.01
percent, to 2,789.19.
                                
 Economic improvement has cemented expectations that the ECB
will raise interest rates on Thursday and led to speculation
the U.S. Federal Reserve may be getting closer to withdrawing
exceptional liquidity. [ID:nLDE7330AC]
                                
 Investors were awaiting Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech
ahead of a Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta conference,
scheduled for 7:15 p.m. EDT (2315 GMT) Monday.
                                
 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 of higher prices. [ID:nN04244409]
                                
 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 rose above 120 yen <EURJPY=> for the first time
since May 2010 and was last at 119.47, down 0.1 percent.
Against the dollar, the euro <EUR=> last traded at $1.4217,
down 0.1 percent.
                                
 Traders expect the euro to stay near current levels in the
coming days, with resistance seen around $1.4281, the November
high.
 (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Additional reporting by Angela
Moon, Wanfeng Zhou and Robert Gibbons in New York, Carey Gillam
in Kansas City; Editing by Dan Grebler)