(Updates prices to late afternoon with oil settlement)

* Equities, currency, Treasury investors in wait-and-see

mode

* Iran shows no sign of opening Strait of Hormuz

* Trump vows to attack civilian infrastructure if no deal

* Brent dips to near $109 a barrel

* US crude climbs close to $113 a barrel

By Sinéad Carew and Lawrence White

NEW YORK/ LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) - MSCI's global

equities gauge fell slightly while the dollar and U.S.

Treasuries were little changed on Tuesday as investors awaited

the outcome of a standoff between the U.S. and Iran.

In a choppy session for oil, which has been beset by supply

concerns, U.S. crude futures settled slightly higher, near $113

per barrel after earlier rising above $117 while Brent finished

down slightly.

While Iran showed no sign of bowing to U.S. President Donald

Trump's ultimatum to open the Strait of Hormuz by the end of the

day, Iranian media reported that strikes on Iran had intensified

and hit railway and road bridges, an airport and a petrochemical

plant. Trump has threatened to destroy every bridge and power

plant in Iran if the country does not meet his deadline.

Iran responded by declaring that it would no longer hold

back from hitting infrastructure in its Gulf neighbors, and said

that it carried out fresh strikes on a ship in the Gulf and a

huge Saudi petrochemical complex.

Investors have been laser-focused on the U.S.-Israeli war

with Iran, which is now in its sixth week, as wild volatility in

oil prices has increased concerns about inflation and a

potential slowing of the global economy. Wall Street indexes

were falling modestly on Tuesday, having made little progress in

recent days, as hopes for a quick resolution to the war have

been replaced by nervous uncertainty ahead of Tuesday's

deadline.

HEADING FOR THE SIDELINES

With no clarity on the outcome, Rick Meckler, a partner at

Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey, said the

majority of investors are staying in "watch mode" as investment

decisions are "extremely difficult" to make ahead of Tuesday's

deadline.

"It's leading most investors to head to the sidelines

because why sell everything if this is headed for resolution and

why buy something if you could be seeing a very significant

decline in a matter of days?" said Meckler, suggesting that if

Trump carries out his threat, this would usher in a "very

bearish period" for markets.

"There's no clear play here unless as an investor you've

decided you're relatively certain where this is headed," Meckler

said.

In U.S. equities, at 2:48 p.m. ET (1848 GMT) the Dow Jones

Industrial Average fell 281.05 points, or 0.60%, to

46,388.83, the S&P 500 fell 37.61 points, or 0.57%, to

6,574.22 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 182.37 points, or

0.83%, to 21,814.42.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe

fell 3.48 points, or 0.35%, to 994.18.

Earlier, the pan-European STOXX 600 index finished

down 1.01%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index

fell 24.68 points, or 1.04%.

Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a global

transit chokepoint through which a fifth of oil and gas is

shipped, since the start of the war on February 28. It has

pushed back against U.S. pressure to reopen the strait, saying

it wants a lasting end to the war instead of a temporary

ceasefire.

Meanwhile the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on

Tuesday fuel prices could keep rising for months even after the

Strait reopens, in contrast with Trump's assurances that

consumers will see immediate relief when the war ends.

Oil prices, which have moved sharply in response to supply

concerns stemming from the war, were a mixed bag on Tuesday with

U.S. crude rallying while Brent was little changed.

U.S. crude settled up 0.48%, or 54 cents, at $112.95

a barrel after earlier touching $117.73. Brent settled

at $109.27 per barrel, down 0.46%, or 50 cents, on the day.

CONFLICT TRIGGERS ECONOMIC FEARS

Inflation concerns have also upended the global rates

outlook, with traders no longer pricing in any rate cuts from

the U.S. Federal Reserve this year.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee said on

Tuesday he is worried that the war will drive inflation higher

even as it slows the U.S. economy, putting the Fed in an

uncomfortable position where there is no obvious "cookbook" for

what to do.

U.S. Treasuries yields were little changed as investors were

wary of making big bets.

"That's the mother of all deadlines right there, and

everybody seems to be waiting for it," said Tom di Galoma,

managing director of global rates trading at Mischler Financial

Group.

"I don't think anybody really wanted to buy Treasuries with

the chance that oil could go to $150 (a barrel), and that's the

scary part of this whole thing. They should be buying Treasuries

as a safe-haven bid, but for the most part, it's very tough to

do with the chance that oil could accelerate," di Galoma said.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose

0.4 basis points to 4.339%, from 4.335% late on Monday while the

30-year bond yield rose 2.5 basis points to 4.9152%.

The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in

step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve,

fell 1.7 basis points to 3.833%.

In currencies, the U.S. dollar traded close to its highest

levels in almost 11 months with investors pausing ahead of the

U.S. deadline for Iran.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies including the yen and the

euro, fell 0.16% to 99.84. It had hit 100.64 last week, its

highest since May 2025.

The euro was up 0.29% at $1.1575 while against the

Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.06% to 159.78.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 1.94% to

$68,476.82. Ethereum declined 2.75% to $2,090.06.

In precious metals, gold prices were modestly higher while

silver fell as caution prevailed. Spot gold rose 0.61% to

$4,675.82 an ounce while spot silver fell 1.35% to $71.81

an ounce.