Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Late-day strength drove U.S. stocks to 2009 highs on Thursday as rising oil prices lifted energy shares, eclipsing the banking sector's retreat after investors panned earnings from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

Indexes once again set highs for the year and the Dow held above the 10,000 mark after breaching it for the first time in a year on Wednesday.

While Goldman Sachs Group and Citigroup Inc's results exceeded forecasts, they failed to meet the lofty standard set on Wednesday by JPMorgan Chase & Co , the first major bank to report earnings.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> added 47.08 points, or 0.47 percent, to end at 10,062.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 4.54 points, or 0.42 percent, to 1,096.56. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> edged up 1.06 points, or
0.05 percent, to close at 2,173.29.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures settled at a one-year high on Thursday, up for the sixth consecutive day, after government data showed heavy drawdowns in gasoline and distillate inventories last week, going against forecasts
for modest increases.

Traders shrugged off data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showing a smaller-than-expected increase in crude oil supplies.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange ended up $2.40, or 3.19 percent at $77.58 a barrel, the highest since the $78.63 close on Oct. 14, 2008. It traded from $74.79 to $77.97, the highest intraday price since Oct. 15, 2008's $79.17 high.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - November up 1 cent at $9.94 a bushel. Prices rally to highest level since Sept. 3 due to slow harvest of U.S. soybean crop, weak dollar and gains in crude oil and equities markets.

CBOT-SOYOIL - October expired up 0.09 cent at 35.95 cents per lb. December up 0.12 cent at 36.18. Spillover support from gains in soy, higher crude oil and a weak dollar.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures dropped as much as 2.4 percent to a near one-week low on Thursday with traders taking profits from a rally fuelled by crude oil and higher exports.

The benchmark December palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivative Exchange dropped 52 ringgit to a session low of 2,108 ringgit ($627.9), a level unseen since Oct. 9, before settling at 2,110 ringgit.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets advanced on Thursday with lenders DBS and United Overseas Bank leading Singapore to a 13-month high, while Thailand's index suffered its biggest drop in a year.

Malaysia's index <.KLSE> ended unchanged, falling back from a 16-month high touched earlier and weighed down by financial CIMB Group and telecoms Axiata Group , which each fell more than one percent.

Public Bank was flat. It rose earlier after the bank said third-quarter net profit rose a small 3.2 percent to 639 million ringgit.