Trader' s Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The Dow dipped while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose slightly on Tuesday as a Morgan Stanley downgrade of semiconductors weighed on the sector, while deal news bolstered views that merger actvity was picking up.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 8.69 points, or 0.09 percent, at 9,780.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 2.89 points, or 0.38 percent, at 1,045.77. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 3.49 points, or 0.17 percent, at 2,052.69.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures were little changed in post-settlement trading on Tuesday after industry data showed a surprise drawdown in domestic crude stocks last week.

The American Petroleum Institute said that for the week ending Oct. 30, crude stockpiles fell by 3.3 million barrels, gasoline stocks rose by 501,000 barrels and distillate supplies increased by 1.8 million barrels.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its own data on Wednesday, at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT).

On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT) December crude was up $1.24, or 1.59 percent, at $79.37. It was trading at $79.39 just before the API data was released. It earlier settled up $1.47, or 1.88 percent at $79.60, trading from $76.55 to $79.77.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - November up 9-1/4 cents per bushel at $10.06-3/4 per bushel. January up 12-1/2 at $10.10-1/2.

Technical fund buying boosts soybean market with additional support from higher crude oil, offsetting bearish impact of improved U.S. harvest weather and firm dollar.

CBOT-SOYOIL - December up 0.74 cent per lb at 37.53 cents per lb. Following soybeans with fund buying offsetting bearish impact of firm dollar.

FCPO-JAKARTA, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures edged down on Tuesday as speculation of a big jump in production in October fueled fears of a further rise in inventories, which would be bearish for prices, traders said.

The benchmark January palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 18 ringgit, or 0.8 percent, at 2,190 ringgit ($638.67) a tonne. Overall volume was 12,666 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets
extended recent losses on Tuesday in a market cautious ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, and lower oil prices forced down big-cap energy and resource shares across the region.

Singapore <.FTSTI> lost 0.9 percent, adding to Monday's 0.2 percent decline, and Thailand <.SETI> ended down 1.3 percent after touching its lowest in over eight weeks.

Indonesia <.JKSE> shed 1.6 percent, while Vietnam <.VNI>, Southeast Asia's best performer so far this year, sank 3.9 percent to its lowest in nearly eight weeks.

The U.S. central bank is widely expected to keep rates unchanged but there is a chance the Fed will drop its pledge to keep rates low for an extended period of time.

In Kuala Lumpur, Bursa Malaysia queried unusual price moves in tech firm Lityan , which slid as much 18 percent on the day. Lityan's share price has more than doubled since its relisting on Oct. 30. The share closed down 9.3 percent.