(Updates throughout)

* Oil futures reach more than three-week peak on Iran

worries

* Global stocks steady, investors try to look past oil

shock

* This week 44% of S&P 500 by market cap are due to

report

* Central banks in Japan, US, UK, euro zone, Canada seen

on hold

By Sophie Kiderlin and Tom Westbrook

LONDON/SINGAPORE, April 27 (Reuters) - Oil climbed on

Monday as stalled U.S.-Iran peace talkspointed to further

disruption in Middle East energy exports, while global stocks

held steady at the start of a busy week of tech earnings reports

and central bank decisions.

Benchmark Brent crude futures rose almost 3% to

touch a more than three-week high of $108.5 a barrel at one

point in the session, stoking inflation worries and prompting

traders to all but price out rate cuts in developed markets this

year.

MSCI's All-World index was a touch higher,

while Europe's STOXX 600 dipped around 0.2%. In Asia,

markets in Tokyo and Seoul rose to trade around

record highs, riding a fresh wave of AI-fuelled optimism, while

Wall Street futures fell.

"It is an incredibly busy week ahead. Not only are we going

to have inevitably another round of geopolitical headlines all

over the place, we've also got five policy decisions across the

G10, we've got five of the 'magnificent 7' (tech giants)

reporting, and I think by market cap it's about 45% of the S&P

giving us results this week," said Michael Brown, senior

research strategist at Pepperstone.

While a ceasefire has frozen most fighting in the war

triggered by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran two months ago,

markets remain focused on the shuttered Strait of Hormuz,

crossed by barely any ships carrying cargoes of oil and gas.

The outlook for peace talks remains uncertain.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran only had to call if

it wanted to negotiate an end to the war. Iran's foreign

minister landed in Russia on Monday to seek support from

President Vladimir Putin.

Goldman Sachs analysts lifted year-end Brent oil price

forecasts to $90 a barrel from $80, basing the expectation on a

June-end return to normal for Gulf exports.

"Non-linear price increases are likely if inventories drop

to critically low levels, which we have not seen in the last few

decades," they warned in a note.

RATES AND HYPERSCALERS EARNINGS

Equity investors tried to look past the oil shock, with

renewed attention on the tech sector and the artificial

intelligence trend that some view as unstoppable.

"AI is something that people are very optimistic about and

very much considered a winner," said Mike Seidenberg, senior

portfolio manager for Allianz Technology Trust ( ALNZF ).

"It's the top of the portfolio."

Intel's ( INTC ) forecast last week for second-quarter

revenue exceeding Wall Street expectations set off the latest

round of buying, pushing the total value of the chipmaker-heavy

stock markets in Taiwan and South Korea above that of Germany.

U.S. tech earnings due in the coming week include reports

from 44% of the S&P 500 by market cap.

Capital expenditure plans will be in focus for firms such as

Microsoft ( MSFT ), Alphabet, Amazon ( AMZN ) and Meta

Platforms ( META ), set to report on Wednesday, while Apple ( AAPL )

will report a day later.

Major central banks are expected to keep policy on hold this

week, including the U.S. Federal Reserve - at what will likely

be its last meeting with Jerome Powell in the chair.

The European Central Bank and Bank of England are also set

to keep policy unchanged, but their tone and outlook could

challenge market pricing for rate hikes later this year.

The first central bank to meet, however, will be the Bank

of Japan, which is expectedon Tuesday to keep its short-term

policy rate steady at 0.75%.

In currencies, the dollar was broadly steady on Monday, with

the euro at $1.1746 and the Japanese yen pinned just

below the crucial 160 level.