*

Wall St advances

*

Gold, copper hit records

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Fed officials express lack of confidence in inflation

cool-down

(Updates to 10:59 EDT)

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks followed the

example of their European counterparts, gaining ground on Monday

while gold and copper touched all-time highs powered by investor

optimism over cooling inflation and easing central bank policy.

All three major U.S. stock indexes were green, led by the

tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Copper, a barometer of economic sentiment, surged to a

record high after China announced steps to shore up its

crisis-hit property sector.

"Historically, when you've seen these single commodity

run-ups, it has been due to one or more single large economies

pulling that investment stimulus lever," said Brian Nick, senior

investment strategist at Macro Institute in New York.

Commentary from U.S. Federal Reserve officials has reflected

the central bank's cautious stance regarding its progress toward

reining in inflation and the timing of interest rate cuts.

Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said on Monday it was too

early to tell if inflation slowdown is "long lasting," while

Vice Chair Michael Barr said restrictive policy needs more time,

and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said it will "take a

while" for the central back to be confident that price growth is

on a sustainable downward path.

"Since Powell's press conference a couple of weeks ago, the

speakers that have kind of come out in his wake have been on the

on the margins more hawkish than you would expect based on the

data that we're getting," Nick added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average !RIC {.DJI} is

invalid to !RIC {.DJI} is invalid, the S&P 500 !RIC

{.SPX} is invalid to !RIC {.SPX} is invalid and the Nasdaq

Composite added 100.73 points, or 0.6%, to 16,786.70.

European stocks advanced, propped up by commodity prices,

but held in check by the outlook for interest rates.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.17% and

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained

0.11%.

Emerging market stocks rose 0.11%. MSCI's broadest index of

Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.04%

higher, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.73%.

U.S. Treasury yields drifted higher after Fed officials

expressed uncertainty over the timing of interest rate cuts.

Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 7/32 in price

to yield 4.4453%, from 4.42% late on Friday.

The 30-year bond last fell 12/32 in price to

yield 4.5835%, from 4.561% late on Friday.

The dollar held its ground against a basket of world

currencies as investors awaited further clues about the path of

interest rates in the wake of cautious remarks from Fed

officials.

The dollar index rose 0.11%, with the euro

down 0.07% to $1.0862.

The Japanese yen weakened 0.26% versus the greenback at

156.11 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at

$1.2704, up 0.04% on the day.

Crude prices fluctuated as investors weighed geopolitical

tensions against hawkish Fed commentary.

U.S. crude !RIC {CLcv1} is invalid $!RIC {CLcv1} is

invalid per barrel and Brent was last at $83.84, down

0.17% on the day.

Gold and copper both touched record highs, with the former

coasting on last week's encouraging inflation data and the

latter getting a boost from Beijing's property sector stimulus.

Spot gold added 0.4% to $2,425.11 an ounce.

Copper rose 2.14% to $10,896.50 a tonne.