Trader's Highlights

DJI - NEW YORK, July 30 - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as solid corporate profit reports and a drop in the number of Americans on jobless benefits gave investors reasons to buy equities following the S&P 500's two days of losses.

The market's rally pushed the benchmark S&P 500 index earlier in the session to its highest intraday level in almost nine months, putting it less than 4 points away from the psychologically important 1,000 level. The Nasdaq briefly rose above 2,000 for the first time since October. But shares lost ground at the close and finished off the day's highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 83.74 points, or 0.92 percent, to close at 9,154.46. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 11.60 points, or 1.19 percent, to 986.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 16.54 points, or 0.84 percent, to 1,984.30.

NYMEX - NEW YORK, July 30 - U.S. crude futures bounced back on Thursday, ending nearly 6 percent higher to reverse losses suffered in the previous session as Wall Street sizzled and the dollar reversed lower.

Traders were heartened by a revived optimism on the economy's recovery, sidelining Wednesday's worries over rising oil inventories. Gasoline and heating oil futures staged come-back rallies, buoyed by crude's strength, with volatility ahead of their front-month August contracts' expiration on Friday.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, September crude settled up $3.59, or 5.67 percent, at $66.94 a barrel, trading from $62.76 to $67.20. It was the biggest one-day gain, percentage-wise, since front-month prices jumped 5.79 pct on April 9, In post-settlement dealings, the day's high crept higher, to $67.29.

CBOT - SOYBEANS - August up 70-3/4 cents at $11.28-1/4 a bushel; November up 55 at $9.71.
Huge soybean sale to China of 1.9 million tonnes rallied August above $11 and two-week high. Front-month August climbed more than 70 cents to $11.34-1/4. First position day was Thursday, allowing August to trade beyond the 70-cent daily limit. Aug/Nov spread firming.

CBOT - SOYOIL - August up 1.86 cents at 34.93 cents per lb.
Higher crude oil, gains in soybeans and weak dollar lift soyoil futures.

FCPO - JAKARTA, July 30 - Malaysian crude palm oil futures rose 1.5 percent on Thursday to post their best close in nearly two weeks, boosted by speculation data on July palm exports due out on Friday will come in stronger, traders said.

Rising soybean prices, which highlight a risk of tightness in global vegetable oils supplies, and a rally on stock markets also underpinned buying and helped offset any spillover impact from an almost 6 percent drop in crude oil price a day before, they said.

The benchmark October contract on Bursa Malaysia's Derivatives Exchange settled up 32 ringgit, or 1.5 percent, to 2,145 ringgit ($607.82) per tonne, a level not seen since July 20. Overall volume was 10,704 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES - BANGKOK, July 30 - Indonesian shares soared to their highest in a year on Thursday, with banking shares leading the way, and Singapore bounced late in the session, but overall it was a mixed day in Southeast Asia.

The Indonesian index jumped 3.3 percent to its highest since July 31, 2008, with top lender Bank Mandiri and number two Bank Rakyat Indonesia rising more than 6 percent and Bank Central Asia up 2.1 percent.

Singapore's index rose 1.2 percent, reversing a 0.8 percent fall on Wednesday, with DBS Group, Southeast Asia's biggest lender, surging 3.1 percent and Singapore Exchange, Asia's second largest listed bourse, up 1.3 percent.

Thailand's SET index gained 1.2 percent, with PTT, the biggest energy firm, up 2.1 percent and coal miner Banpu 6.7 percent higher.

Elsewhere, Malaysia's index was down 0.3 percent, led by a 3.9 percent fall in Petronas Gas and a 1.2 percent loss in Sime Darby.