Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P fell on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley revived concerns about the banking sector and the wider economy after it posted its second straight quarterly loss and slashed its dividend.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 82.99 points, or 1.04 percent, to 7,886.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> slid 6.53 points, or 0.77 percent, to 843.55. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 2.27 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,646.12.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended higher on Wednesday, taking a cue from Wall Street, which gained on positive corporate outlooks and as energy traders shrugged off government data showing a larger-than-expected build in domestic crude stocks last week.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, front-month June crude settled up 30 cents, or 0.62 percent, at $48.85 a barrel, trading from trading from $47.70 to $49.09.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - May up 8 cents at $10.46 a bushel.

Old-crop contracts boosted by strong Chinese buying of U.S. soy and disappointing Argentine soy harvest. New-crop contracts, with November down 7 cents at $9.24, on prospects for U.S. soybean acres to increase at the expense of corn.

Buenos Aires Grain Exchange lowered estimate of Argentina's 2009 soy crop to 36.2 million tonnes, down from previous estimate for 37 million.

U.S. Census Bureau to issue monthly crush data on Thursday.

CBOT-SOYOIL - May down 0.04 cent at 36.09 cents per lb. Down in choppy trade but underpinned by strength in old-crop soybeans.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose 1.6 percent on Wednesday to the highest close in a week, rebounding from falls a day earlier as worries about tight global vegetable oil supplies re-surfaced, traders said.

The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 40 ringgit to 2,475 ringgit ($679.39), the highest closing level since April 14.

Other traded months rose between 21 and 237 ringgit.<0#KPO:> Overall volume was more than double the usual level at 21,098 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, April 22 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday, as investors sold banking shares led by Singapore's DBS Group and Thailand's Bangkok Bank on fears of more pain in the U.S. banking sector.

Singapore's Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> led the decline with a 2.3 percent fall, while Thailand <.SETI> dipped 1.2 percent and Indonesian shares <.JKSE> ended 0.8 percent lower. The Malaysian index <.KLSE> gained 0.2 percent while Vietnam
<.VNI> added 2.9 percent.