(Updates prices, context for rise in oil prices)
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* U.S./China trade dispute escalates
* Asian shares wobble
* U.S. futures decline
* Brexit row hurts sentiment
By Julien Ponthus
LONDON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - European stock markets traded in negative territory on Monday as fears of an escalating trade row between the United States and China spread from Asian markets, while oil rallied after OPEC ignored U.S. calls to raise global supply.
The benchmark index for euro zone blue chips .STOXX50E retreated 0.4 percent, while the pan-European STOXX 600, which also includes stocks in the UK and outside the European Union, was down 0.3 percent.
U.S. shares were also expected to open lower, with futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 and the Nasdaq NQc1 trading down 0.2 percent and O.4 percent respectively.
Earlier, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.9 percent after China accused the United States of engaging in bullying over trade, added $60 billion of U.S. products to its import tariff list and reportedly canceled mid-level talks. dealmaking - with Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) CMSCA.O winning a pay-TV bidding war for Sky SKYB.L in the UK and Randgold Resources ' merger with Canada's Barrick Gold RRS.L - was not enough to defuse fears that the standoff between the two biggest world economies would hurt.
"This is here to stay", commented Adrien Dumas, a manager at Mandarine Gestion in Paris, arguing that because trade is at the core of the Trump administration's agenda, investors should accept that the trade war theme is unlikely to recede any time soon.
"It's a negative and it adds to other issues", he said, pointing to stress in emerging markets or political risk in Italy and Britain.
"Brexit is also weighing on sentiment", he noted.
OIL JUMPS 2 PCT
The UK blue chip index FTSE 100 .FTSE was down 0.2 percent. The pound GBP= rose 0.5 percent to $1.3143 after a fall on Friday when British Prime Minister Theresa May said talks with the EU had hit an impasse.
British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Sunday he would back a second Brexit referendum if his Labour Party backs the move, heaping more pressure on May, amid speculation that she could opt to call a snap parliamentary election. euro EUR=D3 rose 0.14 percent close to a three-month peak at $1.1766. The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was last at 94.088, just above its weakest point since early July.
The Japanese yen JPY= , which sees fund inflows during times of crisis, was up 0.05 percent, while the trade-sensitive Australian dollar AUD=D3 was down 0.2 percent.
Oil prices jumped as U.S. sanctions restricted Iranian crude exports, tightening global supply, with some traders forecasting a spike in crude to as much as $100 per barrel. Brent crude LCOc1 hit its highest since November 2014 at $80.94 per barrel, up $2.14 or 2.7 percent, before easing back to around $80.65 at at 1125 GMT.
"This is the oil market's response to the OPEC+ group's refusal to step up its oil production," said Carsten Fritsch, commodities analyst at Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) in Frankfurt.
OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and its biggest oil-producer ally outside the group, Russia, on Sunday ruled out any immediate extra increase in output, effectively rebuffing a call by Trump for action to cool the market. (Editing by Gareth Jones)