Trader's Highlught

DJI-NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq rose on Friday, on strong demand for Palm's Inc's Pre smartphone, while the Dow was dragged lower by sliding oil prices and strength in some financial stocks helped cushion the S&P 500's decline.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq outperformed, helped partly by gains in Palm after it posted a narrower-than-expected loss late on Thursday and said demand was strong for its new Pre smartphone.

Weighing on sentiment, a jump in the savings rate suggested that the debt-burdened U.S. consumer may not drive the economy out of recession as fast as hoped.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 34.01 points, or 0.40 percent, to 8,438.39. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 1.36 points, or 0.15 percent, to 918.90. But the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 8.68 points, or 0.47 percent, to 1,838.22.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures fell back on Friday as oil traders took pre-weekend profits, joining investors on Wall Street who worried that a jump in the U.S. savings rate may hamper the road to economic recovery.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, August crude settled down $1.07, or 1.52 percent, at $69.16 a barrel, trading from $68.81 to $71.29. From a week ago, the contract was down 39 cents, or 0.56 percent.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - July up 5 cents per bushel at $12.01. November down 11 cents at $9.91.

Weak U.S. dollar and tight U.S. stocks supporting old-crop values, but gains limited by weak crude oil and pressure on November from prospects for big U.S. soy acreage this year.

CBOT-SOYOIL - July down 0.46 cent per lb at 36.08 cents Crude oil down more than $1 per barrel.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm futures dipped 0.8 percent on Friday as some investors booked profits on a rally fuelled by expectations that India would have to import more vegetable oils as monsoon rains were below normal.

The benchmark September palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled down 19 ringgit to 2,317 ringgit ($656.4). Overall traded volume stood at 11,629 lots at 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, June 26 (Reuters) - Singapore climbed near a two-week high on Friday, rising for a third day and leading most other Southeast Asian stock markets higher, with low interest rates bolstering demand for regional property shares.

Investors continued to allocate more money to stocks because of the low-rate environment and the prospect of a gradual recovery in the global economy, while energy shares rose after oil went above $71 a barrel.

Markets in the region recovered part of last week's losses, led by Manila, which gained 3.3 percent on the week, reversing from a 7.7 percent drop the week before, followed by Jakarta's 2.5 percent gain and Singapore's 2 percent.

Singapore's index <.FTSTI> ended up 0.7 percent at its highest level since June 15, with Keppel Land up 2.2 percent and City Development up 1.5 percent.

Malaysia <.KLSE> eked out a small 0.2 percent gain, with lender Maybank down 1.7 percent, while palm planter Sime Darby rose 0.7 percent.