* World stocks up 0.6 pct, set for 3rd monthly rise
* U.S. stocks open higher after Bullard comments
* US dollar falls; Brent crude oil inches lower
(Adds opening of U.S markets, changes byline, dateline,
previous LONDON)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Major stocksmarkets rose on
Monday, with worries about the effect of high energy prices on
U.S. economic growth easing slightly, while the dollar hit a
3-1/2-month low against a basket of major currencies.
World equities measured by MSCI All-Country World Index
<.MIWD00000PUS> added 0.6 percent after rising 1.1 percent on
Friday. The global index is up 2.3 percent this month, on track
for a third straight monthly rise.
Comments by James Bullard, president of the St. Louis
Federal Reserve, that the U.S. economy should do well in 2011
and that oil prices are not currently a drag on the recovery
helped to boost U.S. stocks.
"Bullard was right that oil prices won't put a crimp in
activity unless they get substantially higher," said Malcolm
Polley, president of Stewart Capital Advisors in Indiana,
Pennsylvania. "But if gas prices remain at a sustained level,
that will eat into people's discretionary dollars."
Just after the open, the Dow Jones industrial average
<> was up 62.44 points, or 0.51 percent, at 12,192.89. The
Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 6.99 points, or 0.53
percent, at 1,326.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up
16.27 points, or 0.59 percent, at 2,797.32.
Brent crude oil prices inched lower. Worries over supply
disruption from the Middle East and North Africa caused prices
to spike last week. Brent crude <LCOc1> was down 0.03 percent
at $112.11.
Revolt in Libya has cut as much as three quarters of the
country's oil output, prompting Saudi Arabia to step in and
plug the supply gap to Libya's oil buyers.
Brent crude is up more than 10 percent this month, heading
towards its sixth straight month of rises. It touched a
29-month high of near $120 a barrel last week.
The U.S. dollar hit a 3-1/2-month low versus a currency
basket as investors speculated the Fed will lag other central
banks in raising interest rates to counter inflation risks.
The ICE futures exchange's dollar index <.DXY>, which
tracks the greenback's performance against a basket of major
currencies, skidded earlier to its lowest level since Nov. 9.
U.S. Treasury prices were little changed after data showed
higher-than-forecast Chicago purchasing managers index.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was unchanged with
the yield at 3.4161 percent <US10YT=RR>.
U.S. Treasuries earlier were supported by New York Fed
President William Dudley's assertion that the Fed was "very
far" from achieving its dual mandate of maximum sustainable
employment and price stability and should be wary of
withdrawing monetary policy support.
In Europe, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index
of top shares was up 1.1 percent at 1,172, helped by
agrochemical stocks after positive comments on the sector from
Bayer <BAYGn.DE>.
According to fund tracker EPFR Global, a growing aversion
to risky assets in the latest week fueled the biggest flows to
global bond funds in more three months, and turned more
investors away from emerging market stocks. []
The rotation out of emerging markets into developed
markets, partly driven by inflation concerns in emerging
economies, have led to outperformance in developed markets. The
MSCI emerging market index <.MSCIEF> has lost 4.2 percent this
year.
But Credit Suisse's private bank expected the fund rotation
to ease in the second quarter.
(Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica and Ellen Freilich in
New York; Dominic Lau, Neal Armstrong and Naomi Tajitsu in
London; and Florence Tan in Singapore)
