picking up steam.
NYMEX-NEW YORK, Dec 24 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures rose on Thursday, ending above $78 a barrel on optimism about economic recovery that pushed equities higher, a weaker dollar and momentum from the previous day's rise after inventory reports
showed oil stockpiles fell last week.
U.S. stocks rallied after data showing a drop in initial jobless claims and growth in durable goods orders suggested an economic recovery was picking up steam.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, February crude
CBOT-CHICAGO, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grains and soy complex closing trends on Thursday.
CBOT-SOYBEANS - January
CBOT-SOYOIL - January
FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures jumped 2.2 percent on Thursday, after three consecutive days of declines, as higher crude oil prices and a weaker U.S. dollar lifted the market.
The benchmark March contract
REGIONAL EQUITIES- BANGKOK, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets ended mixed on Thursday in a listless holiday-trading session, with Singapore falling back from a more than one-year high and Thailand easing off from its highest in two months.
Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> edged down 0.14 percent after a two-day rise, weighed down by casino operator Genting Singapore
Malaysia's index <.KLSE> was up 0.3 percent, led by a 2.1 percent surge in industrial gas provider Petronas Gas