Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after U.S. President Barack Obama warned of stricter oversight for Wall Street, raising the specter of greater regulation that investors fear could sap profits.

Obama's comments near the market close rattled investors when he said financial institutions that pose a serious risk to markets should be subject to serious government supervision.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 80.05 points, or 1.09 percent, at 7,270.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 8.24 points, or 1.07 percent, at 764.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 16.40 points, or
1.14 percent, at 1,425.43.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended more than 6 percent higher on Wednesday, supported by a rally on gasoline futures after data showed gasoline inventories dropped much more than expected last week.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, April crude settled up $2.54, or 6.36 percent, at $42.50 a barrel, trading from $39.40 to $42.80. It was the highest settlement since Feb. 6, when front-month crude ended at $40.17.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - March down 3 cents at $8.78 per bushel. Firm dollar and news China canceling cargoes of U.S. soy, likely switching business to Brazil, weighed on prices.

CBOT-SOYOIL - March up 1.39 cents at 31.90 per lb. Gained on hopes for increased usage of soyoil in potential growth of U.S. biodiesel industry and gains in crude oil.

FCPO-JAKARTA, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm futures rose 1.2 percent on Wednesday to finish at a one-week high on the back of good export data and helped by a rally in global stock markets, but the upside was capped by profit-taking, traders said.

The benchmark May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 23 ringgit, or 1.2 percent, to 1,894 ringgit ($516) per tonne, after rising as high as 1,912 ringgit early.

Other traded contracts rose between 20 and 27 ringgit. Overall volume was 11,509 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stocks posted small gains on Wednesday, with an interest rate cut pushing big-cap energy and telecom shares up in Thailand, and a cut in Malaysia pushing stocks there to the highest in nearly a week.

Malaysia <.KLSE> gained 0.3 percent, with Telekom Malaysia up 6.6 percent. The stock had surged 12.6 percent in early trade after the company said it would return 3.5 billion ringgit ($955 million) to stockholders.

Asian stocks elsewhere edged up as reassuring comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sparked a rebound in financial shares. In Singapore, the main stock index <.FTSTI> ended up 0.15 percent. Indonesian shares <.JKSE> were up 0.33 percent, the Philippine index <.PSI> added nearly 1 percent and Vietnamese shares <.VNI> surged 3.8 percent.