*

Crude prices settle lower, retreating from multi-month

highs

after Iran retaliates

*

Wall Street stocks finish higher, European shares fall

*

Dollar advances against yen, falls against franc; euro

rebounds

*

Safe-haven gold pares losses

(Updates first paragraph with latest on Iranian conflict,

prices throughout with U.S. markets close, oil and gold

settlement)

By Chibuike Oguh

NEW YORK, June 23 (Reuters) - Global equity markets

advanced on Monday while oil prices settled sharply lower after

hitting multi-month highs, as markets shrugged off the effects

of the escalating Middle East conflict, with Iran firing

retaliatory airstrikes against U.S. bases in Qatar.

Wall Street's main indexes finished higher, with 10 out of

11 of the benchmark S&P 500 subsectors advancing. Energy stocks

were the biggest losers on the session.

Equities had pared gains following news on Monday that the

Qatari government had closed its airspace as it braced for an

Iranian air strike against U.S. forces stationed in the country.

Iran's military said it carried out a missile attack on the

Al Udeid U.S. airbase in Qatar. But U.S. officials said no U.S.

personnel were killed or injured in the attack on the airbase,

the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East.

Iran's attacks were in retaliation against U.S. air strikes

against Persian nuclear sites in support of an Israeli military

campaign.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.89%

to 42,581.78, the S&P 500 rose 0.96% to 6,025.17 and the

Nasdaq Composite rose 0.94% to 19,630.98.

European shares finished down 0.28%. MSCI's

broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

fell 0.70% overnight. MSCI's gauge of stocks

across the globe rose 0.49%.

Israel bombed Evin prison in northern Tehran on Monday, a

potent symbol of Iran's governing system, and Revolutionary

Guard command centers responsible for internal security in the

Tehran area. The Iranian parliament had approved the closure of

the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping lane in the global oil

trade.

"The market being higher signals a risk-on sentiment, which

is somewhat surprising considering that we had a series of very

volatile events over the weekend with U.S. participation in the

(Iran) bombing efforts with Israel," said Andrew Wells, chief

investment officer at SanJac Alpha in Houston.

"The lesson we take from this is that these headline events

are having less and less effect on the market since tariffs went

on - the so-called Liberation Day - which was the big volatile

event," Wells said.

Brent Crude futures closed down 7.2% at $71.48 a

barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude eased

7.2% to $68.51. The Brent and WTI crude benchmarks touched

five-month highs of $81.40 and $78.40, respectively.

Iran's attacks are seen as an effort at de-escalation, as it

informed the U.S. via diplomatic channels ahead of attacks on

its Qatar base, a senior regional source told Reuters.

It has also not taken action to disrupt shipping traffic

going through the Strait of Hormuz - which is only about 33 km

(21 miles) wide at its narrowest point with around a quarter of

global oil trade and 20% of liquefied natural gas supplies

passing through it.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman

said on Monday the time to cut interest rates appeared imminent

as she was increasingly worried about labor market risks and was

less concerned that high import taxes would cause an ongoing

inflation problem.

The dollar strengthened 0.08% to 146.15 against the Japanese

yen and weakened 0.68% to 0.81260 against the Swiss

franc. The euro was up 0.49% at $1.157675, rebounding

from earlier losses following Bowman's comments.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro,

fell 0.5% to 98.39.

Gold prices pared early losses and settled higher. Spot gold

rose 0.23% to $3,375.71. U.S. gold futures

settled 0.3% higher at $3,395.