Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury prices plummeted on Monday, driven by fears a price bubble is about to pop in the face of a massive wave of new debt, while fresh details of a planned U.S. stimulus package helped firm up the dollar.

U.S. stocks fell after an early rally on better-than-expected December sales at battered General Motors failed to hold as investors booked profits from last week's run-up.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama plans $310 billion in tax cuts as part of a rescue package of up to $775 billion, senior Democratic aides said on Sunday.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed down 81.80 points, or 0.91 percent, at 8,952.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 4.34 points, or 0.47 percent, at 927.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> slipped 4.18 points, or 0.26 percent, at 1,628.03.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures settled at the highest level in a month on Monday as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict escalated.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, February crude settled up $2.47, or 5.33 percent, at $48.81 a barrel, the highest settlement since Dec. 1's $49.28. It traded from $45.56 to $49.28.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - January up 13-3/4 cents at $9.83-3/4 a bushel, March up 10 at $9.87. Reached a three-month top on higher crude oil, strong demand for soy and concerns about the condition of the crop in South American.

CBOT-SOYOIL - January up 1.32 cents at 34.90 cents a lb;March up 1.29 at 35.17. Following crude oil higher.

FCPO-JAKARTA, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm futures rose 5.57 percent on Monday to finish at a new high in nearly 12 weeks, supported by rising crude oil prices and strong palm oil exports, traders said.

The benchmark March palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia's Derivatives Exchange rose 97 ringgit, or 5.57 percent, to 1,837 ringgit ($531) per tonne, the highest closing level since Oct. 15. The contract hit a high of 1,846 ringgit earlier.

Other trader contracts rose between 33 ringgit and 123 ringgit. The overall volume stood at 15,018 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Major Southeast Asian stocks hit two-month highs on Monday as investors bought up energy and palm oil shares such as Singapore's Wilmar, Malaysia's IOI Corp and Thailand's PTT after a jump in the crude oil price.

Hopes for a global economic recovery later this year and for more interest rate cuts by central banks in Asia in response to weak inflation encouraged funds to flow back into undervalued stocks, with the trend expected to continue.

Singapore's Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> jumped 5.2 percent to its highest since Nov. 5, the Malaysian share index <.KLSE> rose 2.9 percent to a two-month high and the Thai stock index <.SETI> climbed 6.4 percent to its highest since Nov. 5.