Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks suffered their worst decline in more than a month on Wednesday after a grim private-sector jobs report coupled with a revenue warning from top chip maker Intel Corp revived deep concerns about
the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 244.68 points, or 2.71 percent, to 8,770.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> dropped 28.00 points, or 3 percent, to 906.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> tumbled 53.32 points, or 3.23 percent, at 1,599.06.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures slumped more than 12 percent on Wednesday, the biggest one-day percentage loss since September 2001, after U.S. government data showed domestic stocks of crude oil and refined products
rose much more than expected last week.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, February crude settled at $42.63, down $5.95, or 12.25 percent, after trading from $42.41 to $49.09. It was the biggest percentage loss for a day since prices fell 15.25 percent on Sept. 24, 2001.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - January down 24-1/4 at $9.90; March down 26 at $9.90.
Profit-taking after Tuesday's surge above $10 in spot month for the first time in three months. Chinese soy demand and South American crop concerns underpin prices. But drier areas of Argentina and Brazil to see rain next week.

CBOT-SOYOIL - January down 1.13 cents at 35.92 cents per lb; March down 1.13 cent at 36.18 cents. Profit-taking spurred by drop in crude oil. Weaker dollar supportive.

FCPO-JAKARTA, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm futures ended slightly higher on Wednesday, recovering from a drop of nearly 6 percent at one stage, thanks to last-minute speculative buying, traders said.

The market came under heavy selling pressure in the afternoon session as investors began to lock in profits, as the price had rallied for seven consecutive trading days, traders said.

The benchmark March palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia's Derivatives Exchange closed up 5 ringgit, or 0.25 percent, at 1,985 ringgit ($567) per tonne, coming off an intra-day high of 2,058 ringgit and a low of 1,868 ringgit.

Other traded contracts were mostly lower, falling by between 18 and 102 ringgit. Overall volume was 25,653 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-Most major Southeast Asian marekts gave up early gains, with
Singapore's index <.FTSTI> down 1.7 percent at the close and Indonesia's <.JKSE> ending 0.98 percent lower.

Malaysia's stock index erased most of its 1.6 percent gain to close up just 0.58 percent after weak export data, despite expectations that the central bank would cut interest rates.