(Updates prices to US morning trading)

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

mode ahead of Trump's deadline

* Iran shows no sign of opening Strait of Hormuz

* Trump threatens to attack civilian infrastructure if no

deal

* Brent futures above $110/barrel, US crude briefly

pushes past $117

By Sinéad Carew and Lawrence White

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

equities gauge fell slightly on Tuesday, while U.S. crude oil

prices traded above $115 per barrel as investors anxiously

awaited the outcome of a standoff between the United States and

Iran.

While Iran showed no sign of accepting 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 Iranian power plants and

other key infrastructure if Tehran does not meet his deadline.

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

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

prices has amped up concerns about inflation and a potential

slowing of the global economy. Wall Street indexes were lower on

Tuesday, having made little progress in recent days as hopes for

a quick resolution to the war have been replaced by uncertainty

ahead of Tuesday's deadline.

HEADING FOR THE SIDELINES

"Either we are gonna destroy (Iran) or this will be

resolved. That makes investment decisions extremely difficult

with the information we have," said Rick Meckler, a partner at

Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey.

"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, it would usher in a "very bearish

period" for markets.

In U.S. equities, at 11:44 a.m. ET (1544 GMT), the Dow Jones

Industrial Average fell 409.83 points, or 0.88%, to

46,260.05, the S&P 500 lost 60.07 points, or 0.91%, to

6,551.76 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 276.66 points, or

1.26%, to 21,719.95.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe

dropped 5.95 points, or 0.60%, to 991.71.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.96%, while

Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index slipped 24.74

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 in late February. It has

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

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

ceasefire.

Oil prices, which have moved sharply in response to supply

concerns stemming from the war, rallied on Tuesday as the strait

remained closed and strikes on Iran intensified.

U.S. crude was up 3.02% at $115.81 a barrel after

touching a high of $117.63 and Brent traded at $110.14

per barrel, up 0.36%.

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.

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 0.07% to 99.93, with the euro up 0.23% at $1.1569.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened

0.18% to 159.94.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 2.45% to

$68,119.25. Ethereum declined 3.34% to $2,077.21.

In U.S. Treasuries, yields advanced modestly as the Iran

deadline loomed.

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

2.8 basis points to 4.363%, from 4.335% late on Monday, while

the 30-year bond yield rose 4.1 basis points to

4.9306%.

The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in

step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve,

rose 1.2 basis points to 3.862%.

In precious metals, gold prices were little changed as

caution prevailed.

Spot gold was flat at $4,647.46 an ounce while U.S.

gold futures fell 0.22% to $4,646.60 an ounce. However,

spot silver fell 2.38% to $71.05 an ounce while U.S.

silver futures fell 2.28% to $71.01 an ounce.