* Brent crude tops $120 a barrel on Middle East unrest
* Corn futures match record-high price from 2008
* Wall Street little changed ahead of earnings season
* Euro slips back after hitting multi-month highs (Rewrites, updates prices, adds details)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, April 4 (Reuters) - Commodities rose on Monday as Brent crude topped $120 a barrel on concerns over the impact on supply from unrest in the Middle East, while corn surged to match a record-high price set during the 2008 global food crisis.
Merger and acquisition activity helped global equities eke out gains. Wall Street was little changed, as the broad S&P 500 <.SPX> struggled to break above its high for the year ahead of the quarterly earnings season that kicks off next week.
Expectations of higher euro zone interest rates took the euro briefly to an 11-month high against the Japanese yen, before easing back with expectations of an increase already priced in.
Brent crude oil prices rose above $120 a barrel to the highest level since before the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the global financial crisis in September 2008. After choppy trading, U.S. crude settled up 53 cents at $108.47 a barrel, the highest close since September 2008.
Libya's continuing conflict and unrest in Yemen could pose threats to supply in the Middle East, while investors expect demand for oil could grow on signs of improvement in the U.S. economy.
Corn futures extended a rally that began last week when the U.S. Department of Agriculture pegged quarterly corn stocks as of March 1 at levels well below trade expectations, with tightening supply underscoring the strong demand for the feed grain. For details, see [ID:nLDE7300TD]
"There are no signs saying corn won't go higher. Stocks were bullish for corn and now planting weather doesn't look good," said Mario Balletto, analyst for Citigroup.
Earlier in the day, spot corn equaled its record high of $7.65 per bushel set on June 27, 2008. Chicago Board of Trade corn futures unofficially ended up at $7.59.
EQUITIES STRUGGLE
World stocks as measured by MSCI <.MIWD00000PUS> were up 0.3 percent, hovering around a one-month high and up nearly 5 percent for the year to date. European shares rose to a three-week closing high.
Among the day's M&A, Belgian chemicals group Solvay
The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> closed up 0.04 percent at 1,142,84 points, the highest close since March 9. But the S&P was slightly lower in the early afternoon, hovering just under 1,333, a level that it has been unable to close above since mid-February.
The S&P recorded its best two-week period since December on Friday and the Dow industrials <.DJI> hit the highest intraday level since June 2008.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> added 10.33 points, or 0.08 percent, to 12,387.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was off 1.50 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,330.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dipped 6.19 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,783.41.
Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Asset Management in Boston, said the earnings season would likely push the S&P 500 to 1,400 by mid-May as stocks come off the seasonally strong November-April period.
"If we make a successful break from here, I think you've got the 1,400 range and I think that's probably likely during the final seasonally favorable push," Zaro said.
Economic improvement has cemented expectations that the ECB will raise interest rates Thursday and led to speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve may be getting closer to withdrawing exceptional liquidity. [ID:nLDE7330AC]
A top Federal Reserve official said on Monday that U.S. inflation is likely to remain low for now, but policymakers will keep a close eye on potentially self-fulfilling consumer expectations for higher prices. [ID:nN04244409]
Reflecting expectations of differing rate paths, the euro hit an 11-month high against the yen and touched a five-month peak against the dollar. The euro later slipped back.
The euro briefly popped above 120 yen