GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks ease after BoE minutes stun markets

* Stocks fall, BoE minutes raise specter of rate hike

* Fed minutes also on tap later in day

* Euro below $1.33 for first time in nearly a year

(Adds close of European stock markets)

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Global equity markets eased on

Wednesday on a spate of poor corporate results and the release

of Bank of England minutes that showed two of the bank's

policymakers unexpectedly voted earlier this month for an

interest rate hike.

Sterling and UK bond yields rose after the surprise tilt

toward higher British rates, while the U.S. dollar advanced to

its highest against the euro since last September on the view

the Federal Reserve may be turning less dovish.

Minutes from the Fed's last meeting of policymakers in July

will be released at 2 p.m. The focus on central bank policy

eclipsed any geopolitical developments.

The Fed minutes also come ahead of Fed Chair Janet Yellen's

widely anticipated address to the annual gathering of central

bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday.

With U.S. and global stock indices trading close to all-time

highs, investors are awaiting a reaffirmation of the

accommodative monetary policies that have helped spur a global

rally in stocks.

"The next leg up is going to come from what we hear on

Friday from Yellen," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market

strategist at Federated Investors in New York. "The market has

been a little bit on tenterhooks," he said.

MSCI (NYSE: MSCI - news) 's all-country equity index was down

0.05 percent, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index of

leading European shares closed down 0.07 percent at 1,346.02.

A warning from brewer Carlsberg (Other OTC: CABGY - news) that profits

would fall this year due to deteriorating conditions in Russia

rattled European investors.

A cut in its full-year sales forecast by Lowe's Companies

also unnerved investors, though the world's No. 2 home

improvement products retailer also posted better-than-expected

second-quarter results.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 28.71 points,

or 0.17 percent, at 16,948.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index

was up 1.89 points, or 0.10 percent, at 1,983.49. The

Nasdaq Composite Index

The dollar broke through resistance at $1.3300 and last

November's high of $1.3295 per euro to trade as high as

$1.3275. It also climbed to a 4-1/2-month high against the yen.

It was last up 0.22 percent versus the euro at $1.3290.

U.S. crude oil rose more than $1 a barrel ahead of the

September contract's expiry later on Wednesday and as crude

stocks in the United States posted a sharp fall, while Brent

bounced off a 14-month low to reach $102.

Brent crude for delivery in October was up 35 cents

at $101.91 a barrel. The U.S. crude contract for September

delivery was up 78 cents to $95.26 a barrel.

U.S. Treasuries fell, with the benchmark 10-year note down

3/32 in price to yield 2.4157 percent.

(Additional reporting by Jamie McGeever in London, reporting by

Herbert Lash; Editing by Dan Grebler)