Trader's Highlight

DJI - NEW YORK, March 12 - U.S. stocks rose for a third day on Thursday on relief that a ratings cut by S&P in General Electric was just one notch and that no further cuts

loomed, while retail sales data showed some stabilization in consumer spending.
The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 239.66 points, or 3.46 percent, to 7,170.06. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 29.38 points, or 4.07 percent, to 750.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 54.46 points, or 3.97 percent, to 1,426.10.

NYMEX - NEW YORK, March 12 - U.S. crude futures ended more than 11 percent higher on Thursday, rebounding from heavy losses in the previous session, as traders weighed a potential output cut when OPEC meets on Sunday.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, April crude settled up $4.70, or 11.1 percent, at $47.03 a barrel, trading from $42.51 to $47.22. It was the biggest one-day percentage gain since Feb. 19, when prices rose 14.04 percent. Prices fell 7.39 percent to $42.33 on Wednesday.

CBOT - SOYBEANS - March up 24 cents at $8.99 a bushel, May up 20 at $8.82. Short-covering rebound spurred by crude rally, strength in Dow and bigger-than-expected weekly export figure issued by USDA.

CBOT - SOYOIL - March up 0.47 cent at 30.11 cents a lb; May up 0.47 at 30.38. Short covering after fund selling drove prices sharply lower on Wednesday. USDA big U.S. soyoil end stocks estimate issued Wednesday ignited the selling.

FCPO - JAKARTA, March 12 - Malaysian crude palm oil futures fell 3.0 percent to the lowest in nearly a week on Thursday after top industry analysts warned the price could slide to 1,500 ringgit, traders said.

The benchmark May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 60 ringgit, or 3.0 percent, to 1,920 ringgit ($521) per tonne, the lowest since March 6.

REGIONAL EQUITIES - BANGKOK, March 12 - Most Southeast Asian stock markets ended lower on Thursday, with Singapore and Indonesia falling back after two days of gains and Malaysia touching a three-month low, with financials leading the way down.

Singapore's index fell 0.8 percent, with lender United Overseas Bank losing 2.4 pecent, and Indonesia's index lost 0.3 percent, with state-controlled Bank Rakyat
sliding 3.7 percent.

Malaysia's benchmark index dropped 1.4 percent, touching its lowest since Dec. 10 at one point, with Maybank tumbling 6.5 percent and Public Bank 3.4 percent lower.