Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks keep proving the naysayers wrong, as major averages continue to gain despite expectations for the recent rally's demise. And this week may be no different.

Fears that bank stress tests will cast an even bigger shadow over the addled financial sector coupled with uncertainty about the April employment figures might just bring the rally to an end.

It will undoubtedly be a busy week with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke heading to Capitol Hill to testify on the economy on Tuesday, the all-important April nonfarm payrolls data set for release on Friday and authorities worldwide mobilizing against a deadly new flu strain.

Friday's payrolls report is expected to show the economy shed more than 600,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate jumped to 8.9 percent from March's 8.5 percent.

Other key data will be Tuesday's reading on the vast service sector from the Institute for Supply Management, the government's productivity and costs report for the first quarter on Thursday, and the ADP National Employment report on Wednesday.

Bernanke will appear before the U.S. Congress' Joint Economic Committee on Tuesday at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), while on Thursday he is scheduled to speak on banking supervision.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures rose 4 percent on Friday to settle above $53 a barrel in what sources called a technical breakout as improved consumer confidence and the dollar's weakness versus the euro helped lift prices.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, June crude oil rose $2.08, or 4.07 percent, to settle at $53.20 a barrel, trading from $50.43 to $53.65, highest intraday front-month crude price since $53.90 was reached on April 3.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - May soybeans up 32 cents to $11.02 per bushel. Fund buying, shrinking U.S. soy supply amid big exports, including active sales to China and low yields of soy in South America boosted soy.

CBOT-SOYOIL - May up 1.21 cents to 37.43 cents per pound. Fund buying and following soybeans.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Reuters) - Asian vegetable oil markets surged on Friday on expectations that resilient exports could further aggravate an on-going tightness in global vegetable oil inventories.

Vegetable oil prices brushed aside swine flu jitters that plagued markets in the past few days to focus on Argentina revising its soy harvest downwards, resilient Malaysian palm oil exports and China raising its domestic soybean buying.

Malaysian palm oil futures <0#KPO:> closed to its highest monthly gain of 30 percent since July 2001, U.S soyoil for May shipment jumped 2.6 percent and the most active September soyoil contract on Dalian surged 4.9 percent.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, April 30 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stocks rose on
Thursday, with Singapore near two-week highs and Thailand at its highest in six months because of demand for leading stocks such as DBS Group and PTT due to optimism about the global economy.

In Kuala Lumpur, the index <.KLSE> ended up 2.4 percent, led by palm planter IOI Corp , which was up 4.9 percent, and Genting , which rose 6.9 percent.

Indonesia <.JKSE>, Southeast Asia's best performer this year, jumped 4.8 percent on Thursday to its highest since Oct. 6, with banks outperforming the broader market after reporting quarterly results that were better than analysts' forecasts.