Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday, with the Dow industrials ending at a 6-1/2-year low, on fears the government may be forced to nationalize some big banks.

Uncertainty about how Washington will rescue beleaguered banks persisted even as the White House issued its most direct statement yet on banks, saying it supported a privately held banking system.

The S&P 500 had plunged close to a 12-year low before the White House statement.

Citigroup and Bank of America , which were buffeted by rumors that they were candidates for nationalization, finished down 22.3 percent and 3.6 percent,
respectively. They had been down more than 35 percent before the White
House comments.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 100.28 points, or 1.34 percent, to close at 7,365.67. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> ended down 8.89 points, or 1.14 percent, at 770.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dipped 1.59 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,441.23.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures fell on Friday, after shooting up 14 percent on Thursday, on persistent demand concerns amid a weak economy and as traders liquidated positions on the front-month March contract, which expired at the close.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March crude expired and settled down 54 cents, or 1.37 percent, at $38.94 a barrel, trading from $36.91 to $39.50.
April crude ended down 15 cents, or 0.37 percent, at $40.03, trading from $37.54 to $40.13.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - March down 22 at $8.62-1/2 per bushel.

Economic worries weigh, pushing soy to two-month low. Softening Brazilian basis on harvest pressure coupled with talk that China may have canceled 4 to 6 cargoes of U.S. soy, rolling them to Brazil, weigh on CBOT prices. Late short-covering and weakening dollar helped soy close above the day's lows.

Rains in Argentina also to weigh and market shrugging off news Argentine farmers planning to strike.

CBOT-SOYOIL - March down 0.20 cent per lb to 30.22 cents. Declining soy, crude and stock markets weighing on soyoil.

FCPO-JAKARTA, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm futures fell to a 2-week low on Friday, extending a five-day losing streak, on fears over weak demand and supportive weather condition in rival soy producing country Argentina, traders said.

The benchmark May contract fell 25 ringgit, or 1.34 percent, to 1,835 ringgit ($499) per tonne, the lowest finish since Feb. 4, having gone up as high as 1,889 ringgit early.

Other traded contracts were mixed. Overall volume was at 12,374 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stocks fell on
Friday in markets dogged by global economic fears, with Singapore hitting a three-month low and Indonesia a two-month low, led by financials such as Singapore's UOB and Indonesia's Bank Rakyat.

Malaysian and Thai stocks hovered at two-week lows, with Malaysia <.KLSE> off 1.1 percent, pulled down by a 5.4 percent drop in lender Malayan Banking and Thailand <.SETI> down 1.6 percent, with Bangkok Bank 2 percent lower.
Elsewhere, the Philippines <.PSI> lost 0.9 percent and Vietnam <.VNI> fell 0.9 percent to its lowest since August 2005.