GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks ease after BoE minutes stun markets

* Stocks ease as BoE minutes raise specter of rate hike

* Fed minutes show no sign of change in rate policy

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

(Adds oil settlement)

By Herbert Lash

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

Wednesday on a few poor corporate results and the release of

Bank of England minutes that hinted at an early interest rate

hike, but minutes from the Federal Reserve showed no desire to

bring forward plans to raise rates.

The Fed said it has been surprised by how quickly the U.S.

labor market is healing yet the recovery has to be more

convincing to change its view on when to increase rates.

Stocks on Wall Street rebounded after the release of the Fed

minutes, suggesting investors believe there will be no change in

monetary policy, while U.S. Treasuries prices fell.

"The Fed remains dovish. However, one eye is looking towards

improvements in labor markets. Potentially a rate increase might

come slightly sooner or the increases might come faster than

expected," said Putri Pascualy, credit strategist For Pacific

Alternative Asset Management Company, In Irving, California.

Wall Street pushed higher, but MSCI (NYSE: MSCI - news) 's all-country equity

index was 0.04 percent lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 68.78 points,

or 0.41 percent, to 16,988.37. The S&P 500 gained 5.71

points, or 0.29 percent, to 1,987.31 and the Nasdaq Composite

added 3.167 points, or 0.07 percent, to 4,530.681.

Earlier in Europe, 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.

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.

The Fed minutes 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 indexes trading close to all-time

highs, investors await a reaffirmation of the accommodative

monetary policies that have helped spur a global rally.

"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.

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 0.4 percent versus the euro at $1.3266.

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

September contract's expiry 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 settled 72 cents

higher at $102.28 a barrel. The U.S. crude contract for

September delivery rose $1.59 to settle at $96.07.

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

down 6/32 in price to yield 2.4299 percent.

(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Additional reporting by Jamie

McGeever in London; Editing by Dan Grebler and James Dalgleish)