Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as a sharp drop in oil prices sent the energy sector tumbling and disappointing profit outlooks from large companies such as Merck raised the specter of a worsening economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 215.45 points, or 2.51 percent, to end at 8,376.24. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 25.52 points, or 2.93 percent, to 845.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> slumped 46.82 points, or 3.14 percent, to close at 1,445.56.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended below $44 on Thursday to hit their lowest level in nearly four years on demand worries amid an economy in recession.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, January crude slumped $3.12, or 6.67 percent, to settle at $43.67, the lowest since Jan. 5, 2005, when prices closed at $43.39.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - January down 19 at $8.11 per bushel and March down 19-1/2 at $8.15-1/2 per bushel. Down 2 percent to 15-month low with worsening global
economic situation weighing in addition to satisfactory crop
weather in South America and poor export sales.

CBOT-SOYOIL - December down 1.06 cent at 29.22 cents per lb. Following soy, crude oil amid global economic concerns.

Census Bureau said U.S. soyoil stocks 2.404 billion lbs at the end of October, below the 2.483 billion at the end of September.

FCPO-JAKARTA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm futures closed down nearly 5 percent on Thursday following bearish forecasts from top industry analysts and signs of slowing demand.

The benchmark February palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia's Derivatives Exchange settled down 74 ringgit or 4.82 percent at 1,462 ringgit ($402) a tonne, coming off from a low of 1,457 a tonne.

Other traded contracts fell between 65 ringgit and 94 ringgit. Overall volume was 9,133 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Jakarta stocks rose more than one
percent on Thursday, boosted by a surprise cut in interest rates, while other Southeast Asian markets ended steady with investors still uneasy about prospects for the global economy.

Singapore <.FTSTI> edged up 0.2 percent, while the Philippine index <.PSI> fell 0.8 percent. Vietnam shares <.VNI> climbed 0.8 percent, snapping a three-day losing run.

In Kuala Lumpur, plantation stocks, one of the most heavily weighted on the index, shrank as crude palm oil prices slid further. The index fell 0.1 percent.