Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, June 19 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose on Friday as positive broker comments on Microsoft boosted technology shares, but the major averages lost ground for the week for the first time in five weeks.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 15.87 points, or 0.19 percent, to 8,539.73. But the Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> added 2.86 points, or 0.31 percent, to 921.23. And the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 19.75 points, or 1.09 percent, to 1,827.47.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, June 19 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended lower for the first time in three days on Friday, pressured by a sell-off in gasoline futures.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, July crude settled down $1.82, or 2.55 percent, at $69.55 a barrel, trading from $68.90 to $72.30.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - July down 6-3/4 cents at $12.07 a bushel. Market setting back from three days of gains.

Thunderstorms expected during the next 2 days around the Midwest seen as beneficial to recently seeded soybeans but will delay farmers in Illinois and Indiana who need to finish planting.

CBOT-SOYOIL - July down 0.01 cent at 36.94 cents a lb. Following weakness in soymeal, soybean futures but strength in crude oil limits downturn.

FCPO-JAKARTA, June 19 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended softer on Friday for the third consecutive day, touching a new 10-week intraday low, as worries over slow exports overcame support from gains in oil and soybean markets, traders said.

The benchmark September contract on the Bursa Malaysia's Derivatives Exchange settled down 14 ringgit, or 0.61 percent to 2,285 ringgit ($647) a tonne after trading as high as 2,318 ringgit and hitting a low of 2,274 ringgit, a level unseen since April 10. Overall volume was 10,668 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, June 19 (Reuters) - Major Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Friday as index heavyweights attracted bargain hunters, with Singapore ending a six-day fall and Thai stocks up after interest rate comments from the Bank of Thailand.

Markets in the region tracked improving sentiment elsewhere in Asia as U.S. factory and jobs data provided more evidence that the global economy was starting to recover from its deep recession.

A U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting next week may provide such a trigger, with signals on the economy.

Singapore's Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> rose 1.6 percent. Malaysia's index <.KLSE> gained 0.5 percent after a three-day fall of 3.4 percent. Among Southeast Asia stock indices, Malaysia suffered the smallest fall of 2.8 percent on the week, followed by a 4.4 percent drop in Singapore.

The Philippines and Vietnam bucked the trend. Manila <.PSI> fell for a fourth day, ending down 1.5 percent, Vietnam <.VNI> fell 0.9 percent after a two-day rise.