Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - Technology shares pushed the Nasdaq higher on Monday on an otherwise flat day for U.S. stocks, led by BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and Cisco Systems.

Cisco Systems , a Dow component, hit a 21-month high at $26.36 after JPMorgan Chase recommended the stock to investors, and a day before the company is expected to announce new technology to speed up Internet connections.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 13.68 points, or 0.13 percent, to end at 10,552.52. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> shed just 0.20 of a point, or 0.02 percent, to 1,138.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 5.86 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,332.21, its highest close in 18 months.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended higher on Monday for the second session in a row, firming after hitting an eight-week high in range-bound trading on light volume, traders said.

Traders acknowledged that, in lieu of bearish fundamentals, oil traders were looking at external markets and technical charts for price guidance.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, April crude settled up 37 cents, or 0.45 percent, at $81.87 a barrel, trading from $80.75 to $82.41, highest front-month price since Jan. 11's intraday high of $83.95.

CBOT-CHICAGO, March 8 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grains and soy complex close on Monday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - May up 5-1/4 cents per bushel at $9.48. Support from short-covering and good cash demand but gains limited by early harvest of likely record large South American soy crop.

CBOT-SOYOIL - May up 0.23 cent at 40.28 cents per lb. Higher soy and short-covering lifted soyoil futures as did some commercial buying with Bunge an early buyer of May.

FCPO-JAKARTA, March 8 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended at a two-month highs on Monday, driven by gains in crude oil and on expectations of bullish forecasts from a key industry conference in Kuala Lumpur.

The benchmark May crude palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ened up 39 ringgit, or 1.46 percent, at 2,709 ringgit ($811) a tonne, the highest since Jan. 6.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, March 8 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Monday as favourable U.S. job data bolstered optimism about the economic recovery in the United States, but rising political tension kept Thai stocks in check.

Extending last week's gains, Singapore <.FTSTI> climbed 1.59 percent, Malaysia <.KLSE> 1.88 percent and Indonesia <.JKSE> 1.85 percent. The Philippines <.PSI> added 0.8 percent and Vietnam <.VNI> ended up 1.5 percent.

In Singapore, the index touched its highest since Jan. 21, with telecoms firm Singapore Telecoms up 1.6 percent, United Overseas Bank up 1.9 percent and Oversea Chinese Banking Corp 2 percent higher.

In Kuala Lumpur, financials helped push the main index to its highest since March 4 at one point, with Public Bank up 5.5 percent, CIMB Group up 2.9 percent and Malayan Banking rising 1.6 percent.