* Oil prices ease further after Bessent comments

* Central bank meetings eyed for inflation views

* US stocks higher, led by AI-related companies

(Updates to close of US markets)

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - Global stocks rallied on

Monday as oil prices eased, though the surge in crude prices

this month is likely to shift the inflation outlook and lead

most central banks to hold rates steady at their policy meetings

this week.

Israel said it has detailed plans for at least three more weeks

of war as its military pounded sites across Iran overnight,

while Iranian drone attacks temporarily shut Dubai airport and

hit a key oil facility in the United Arab Emirates.

U.S. President Donald Trump repeated his call for help to

unblock the Strait of Hormuz after some vessels sailed through

it. In addition, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S.

was "fine" with some Iranian, Indian and Chinese ships going

through the strait for now, adding that any action to alleviate

higher prices would depend on how long the war on Iran lasts.

U.S. crude settled down 5.28% to $93.50 a barrel and

Brent fell to $100.21 per barrel, to settle down 2.84%

on the day. Both Brent and U.S. crude have surged nearly 40% in

March.

This jump in oil prices and its potential to boost inflation

have led markets to recalibrate expectations for easing policies

from global central banks this year. Markets are currently

pricing in about 25 basis points of cuts from the U.S. Federal

Reserve by the end of the year, and nearly 40 basis points of

hikes from the European Central Bank, according to LSEG data.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks closed higher, led by AI-linked

names such as Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Meta Platforms ( META ).

Meta shares ended he session up 1.8% after Reuters reported the

social media giant plans to lay off 20% or more of its workforce

while Nvidia ( NVDA ) gained 2.8% as CEO Jensen Huang began to detail the

company's hardware and software plans at its annual developer

conference.

"There's things out there that are leading people to believe

that we're going to be able to open and defend the Straits of

Hormuz. I don't know that I'm buying that one, but that's what's

causing the rally," said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president

at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco.

"Uncertainty is going to remain and that's not good for

markets. There's a lot of really cheap stocks out there that are

getting cheaper. There's a lot of opportunity here, but you're

going to need to be patient."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average the Dow Jones

Industrial Average rose 387.94 points, or 0.83%, to

46,946.41, the S&P 500 gained 67.20 points, or 1.01%, to

6,699.39 and the Nasdaq Composite rallied 268.82 points,

or 1.22%, to 22,374.18. The Dow and S&P registered their biggest

daily percentage gain since February 6.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe advanced

10.97 points, or 1.10%, to 1,010.13, and was on course for its

biggest daily percentage gain since February 9. The pan-European

STOXX 600 index closed up 0.44% to snap a three-session

streak of declines.

Commerzbank's shares shot up about 9% after Italy's

UniCredit launched a bid for an additional stake in

the German lender.

ALL THE CENTRAL BANKS

Central banks in the U.S., Britain, euro zone, Japan,

Australia, Canada, Switzerland and Sweden will this week hold

their first meetings since the start of the Iran war, and

investors will look for clues on how rising crude prices could

impact the interest-rate path.

The sharp shifts in central bank expectations have led to

large moves in government bonds.

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

dropped 6.1 basis points to 4.224%, though it is still up about

26 bps for March, as market participants scaled back the timing

and magnitude for expected rate cuts.

The U.S. Fed is largely expected to hold rates steady at its

policy announcement on Wednesday, and policymakers are more

likely to strike a cautious if not outright hawkish tone this

week due to the current oil shock.

There have been sharper moves in rate-sensitive,

shorter-dated yields, and two-year German yields have

jumped 40 basis points this month, while the equivalent British

gilt yield has surged 58 bps.

A cautiously steady outcome is expected from the other central

bank meetings, excluding the Reserve Bank of Australia, which is

seen likely to raise its cash rate a quarter point to 4.1%, as

it battles resurgent inflation at home.

The heightened volatility in markets has tended to benefit

the U.S. dollar as a safe haven. The United States is also a net

energy exporter, giving it a relative advantage over Europe and

much of Asia, which are net importers.

But the dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies, dropped 0.56% to 99.78, after

touching a 10-month high on Friday, with the euro up

0.81% at $1.1508.