Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Sept 11 - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as a report that major U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers is shopping itself to possible suitors, including Bank of America, drove a last-minute rebound in financial shares.

A nearly $2 retreat in the price of oil also boosted the market, easing concern about consumer and business spending and sending airline and retail shares higher.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 164.79 points, or 1.46 percent, at 11,433.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed up 17.01 points, or 1.38 percent, at 1,249.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished up 29.52 points, or 1.32 percent, at 2,258.22.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Sept 11 - U.S. crude oil futures fell near $100 a barrel on Thursday as a stronger dollar and weak global demand for oil outweighed concerns that Hurricane Ike will disrupt U.S. oil refining and production.

NYMEX October WTI futures settled at $100.87 a barrel, down $1.71, after trading between $100.10 and $103.95 a barrel.

CBOT-SOYBEANS--September up 34-1/2 cents at $12.16 per bushel, November down 2 at $11.76.

Nearby September supported by strong nearby cash prices as southern harvest stalled, keeping beans out of processors'hands. CIF values at the U.S. Gulf are escalating ahead of Hurricane Ike hitting Texas coast. Some positioning before
September expiration on Friday.

SOYOIL-September down 0.69 cent at 47 cents per lb,October down 0.72 at 47.12 cents.
Following declines in soybeans and crude oil.

FCPO-JAKARTA, Sept 11 - Malaysian crude palm oil futures ended down nearly 1 percent on Thursday, recouping some losses after falling as much as 2.3 percent on worries over slowing overseas demand.

The benchmark November crude palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 20 ringgit, or 0.86 percent, to 2,309 ringgit ($665) tonne, after falling as low as 2,275 ringgit a tonne earlier.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-SINGAPORE, Sept 11 - Southeast Asian markets sunk to new lows on Thursday as massive financial sector writedowns in the U.S. fuelled bearish sentiment, while foreign investors sold Malaysian planters such as IOI Corp amid political uncertainty in Kuala Lumpur.

Singapore fell 3.1 percent to its lowest in almost two years after its banks were downgraded by Merrill Lynch, while Malaysia dropped 2 percent to its lowest in 22 months.

Malaysian stocks are down 28 percent so far in 2008. Analysts said foreign investors are selling Malaysian shares ahead of a September 16 deadline by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to topple the ruling government.