Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks weakened on Tuesday as disappointing sales from Johnson & Johnson stirred jitters about the strength of earnings, snapping the S&P 500's six-day winning streak.

Financial shares were pressured, with several major banks reporting results this week. Goldman Sachs Group Inc fell 1.5 percent to $187.23 after influential banking analyst Meredith Whitney downgraded the stock, saying the upside could be limited for the company in the medium term.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> declined 14.74 points, or 0.15 percent, to end at 9,871.06. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> slipped 3.00 points, or 0.28 percent, to 1,073.19. But the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> inched up just 0.75 of a point, or 0.04 percent, to 2,139.89.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended higher for the fourth straight day on Tuesday, as a brighter demand forecast from OPEC and a weakened dollar supported the market.

The front-month November contract, which hit a seven-week high, now faces resistance at $75 a barrel, the year's intraday peak hit on Aug. 25, traders said.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, November crude settled up 88 cents, or 1.2 percent, $74.15 a barrel, the highest settlement since Aug. 24's $74.37.

NYMEX November crude traded from $72.83 to $74.47, the highest since front-month crude hit the year's high of $75 on Aug. 25, which was the highest intraday price since $75.69 was reached on Oct. 21, 2008. NYMEX November crude oil options expire on Thursday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - November down 6 cents at $9.93 a bushel. Some outlooks for better U.S. soy harvest weather and profit-taking after Monday's rally to six-week high weighs on soybean futures.

CBOT-SOYOIL - October down 0.44 cent per lb at 35.86; December down 0.49 cent at 36.06. Spillover selling pressure from declines in soy.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended 0.5 percent higher on Tuesday, easing from more than two-week highs hit earlier on profit-taking, although a crude oil rally and recovering exports kept sentiment up.

The benchmark December contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose as much as 31 ringgit to 2,178 ringgit ($642.5) a tonne, a level unseen since Sept. 25, before settling up 10 ringgit at 2,157 ringgit by the close.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Singapore stocks climbed to their
highest in almost two weeks on Monday after surprisingly third quarter economic growth sprked buying in banking shares, the Thai index scaled a fresh 15-month high.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> ended up 1.1 percent at its highest level since Sept. 30, with DBS Group , Southeast Asia's biggest lender, up 0.8 percent, after the central bank announced no change in its monetary policy stance and better-than-expected GDP growth in the third quarter.

Malaysia <.KLSE> inched down 0.04 percent, after a three-day rise, Indonesia <.JKSE> fell for a fourth day, sliding 0.7 percent while the Philippines <.PSI> lost 0.4 percent, adding on a 0.9 percent decrease on Friday.

In Kuala Lumpur, palm plantation firm IOI Corp was down 0.4 percent, erasing some early losses after Moody's Investors Service changed the outlook of IOI Corp to stable from negative.