Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, March 15 (Reuters) - World equities eased on Monday despite a late-day rally in U.S. stocks, on fears that a likely move by China to tighten credit may slow global growth, while the dollar gained on risk aversion.

Assets perceived as risky, such as stocks, crude oil and other commodities, retreated amid an array of questions about monetary policy, an unclear attempt to resolve Greece's debt woes and how China will manage a looming bout of inflation.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 17.46 points, or 0.16 percent, at 10,642.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 0.52 point, or 0.05 percent, to 1,150.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> slipped 5.45 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,362.21.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, March 15 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended down for a second day in a row on Monday, dropping nearly 2 percent to below $80 a barrel, as the dollar strengthened and amid concerns about economic recovery and fears of credit
tightening in China that might curb that country's growth.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, April crude settled down $1.44, or 1.77 percent, at $79.80 a barrel, the lowest close since March 2's $79.68. It slipped as far as $79.13, the lowest since crude fell to $78.26 on March 2. It posted the day's high at $81.31.

CBOT-CHICAGO, March 15 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grains and soy complex close on Monday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - Strong NOPA soy crush number and talk of problems shipping soy from Brazilian ports lift soybean futures. Also, there were rumors of an Argentine port strike and a trucker strike. Gains limited by higher dollar and lower crude oil. May up 4-1/2 cents at $9.30.

CBOT-SOYOIL - Pressure from lower crude oil and unwinding of soyoil/soymeal spreads. May down 0.80 cent per lb at 38.75 cents per lb.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures closed 2.2 percent lower on Monday to hit a near three-week low on weaker crude oil and soyoil markets.

Palm oil prices have been treading down on concerns of the incoming bumper soybean crop from South America and some profit-taking in the palm oil market as some traders felt prices have run up too fast and too high.

Benchmark May crude palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 59 ringgit to end at 2,590 Malaysian ringgit ($783.7), a level unseen since Feb. 25. Traded volume more than doubled to 22,165 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, March 15 (Reuters) - Thai stocks ended with slim gains on Monday as banks, expected to benefit from a recovery in the economy, outperformed, but many investors opted to stay away as they waited to see how anti-government protests evolved.

The Thai index <.SETI> added 0.2 percent in a listless session, as thousands of protesters moved to a military base in Bangkok, where Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has his crisis headquarters, putting pressure on him to call fresh elections.

In Singapore, the main index eased 0.24 percent, ending a strong six-day run, with top lender DBS Group Holdings down 0.6 percent and top telecoms firm Singapore Telecommunications falling nearly 1 percent.

SingTel, which owns 32 percent of Bharti Airtel, said it may help with the funding for Bharti's purchase of Zain's African assets through debt, but added there was no need to inject money directly into its Indian affiliate.

In Kuala Lumpur, the index fell for a third session to its lowest since March 5 as palm plantation firms tracked weaker palm oil futures, with IOI Corp down 2.5 percent and Sime Darby down 1.3 percent. AirAsia Bhd lost 3.01 percent after broker Maybank downgraded the stock to "sell".