Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Aug 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied on Friday to score their best daily gain in two weeks as hopes that Lehman Brothers may attract a major investor lifted financial stocks while a plunge in oil prices soothed worries about inflation and consumer spending.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> shot up 197.85 points, or 1.73 percent, to 11,628.06. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 14.48 points, or 1.13 percent, to 1,292.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> climbed 34.33 points, or 1.44 percent, to 2,414.71.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Aug 22 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures tumbled more than 5 percent on Friday, the biggest percentage loss for a day since December 2004, as a strong dollar fueled a sell-off. Also helping pressure crude was a report of higher OPEC production this month and the restart of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, traders said.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, front-month October crude settled down $6.59, or 5.44 percent, at $114.59 a barrel, after trading from $114.18 to $121.86.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - September down 20 cents at $13.21 per bushel, November down 21 at $13.27. Profit-taking after two-week rally weighs on soy prices, along with weak crude oil and firm dollar. Outlooks for rain in the United States over the weekend and next week add pressure. But some of the forecasts indicate only light rainfall.

Pro Farmer estimates 2008 U.S. soy crop 2.930 billion bushels, below USDA's August forecast for 2.973 billion. Traders said Pro Farmer estimate mildly supportive for soy prices but the immaturity of the crop leading to uncertainty about final 2008 production.

SOYOIL - September down 1.41 cents at 54.15 cents per lb. Weak crude oil weighs along with profit-taking.

Statistics Canada projects Canadian canola production at 10.375 million tonnes, up 8.9 percent

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures soared 3.8 percent on Friday, scoring two-week highs as overnight gains in crude oil spurred investors to jump back into vegetable oil markets.

The benchmark November contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose as much as 100 ringgit to 2,753 ringgit ($824) per tonne, a level unseen since Aug. 8. By midday, the contract was trading up 62 ringgit at 2,715 ringgit.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets mostly rose on Friday, with high crude and palm oil prices driving gains in plantation firms such as Malaysia's IOI Corp and Singapore's Wilmar.

Malaysian shares <.KLSE> closed 1.32 percent higher, with IOI Corp rising 6.4 percent, top listed company Sime Darby up 2.3 percent and KL Kepong 4.3 percent higher.

In Singapore, the benchmark index swung from red to end 0.36 percent higher, helped by buying of the world's largest palm oil firm, Wilmar, which added 2.7 percent, and Golden Agri, which rose 7.5 percent.

Indonesia's main index rose 1.54 percent to its highest close in about two weeks, led by a 3.9 percent rise in resource firm PT International Nickel Indonesia Tbk. PT Bumi Resources Tbk gained 2.8 percent.