Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, March 26 (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P ended flat on Friday, giving back earlier gains after the sinking of a South Korean naval ship, while tech shares' weakness kept the Nasdaq in slightly negative territory.

Stocks initially rose after European Union leaders said they had agreed on a standby aid package for Greece, and after better-than-expected March consumer sentiment data.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 9.15 points, or 0.08 percent, to end at 10,850.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> inched up just 0.86 point, or 0.07 percent, to 1,166.59. But the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> slipped2.28 points, or 0.10 percent, to close at 2,395.13.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, March 26 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended lower for a third day in row on Friday as downbeat economic data overshadowed a steady tone in consumer sentiment and news of an agreement to help debt-strapped Greece.

Wall Street fell back, on geopolitical worries after the sinking of a South Korean naval ship and a drop in tech bellwether Oracle [.N].

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, May crude settled down 53 cents, or 0.66 percent, at $80 a barrel, trading from $79.54 to $81.46.

CBOT-CHICAGO, March 26 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grains and soy complex close on Friday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - May up 9-1/2 cents at $9.52 per bushel. Support from short-covering, bull-spreading, tightening U.S. soy supplies and news Argentine police closed roads to San Martin grains port after worker protests.

CBOT-SOYOIL - May up 0.25 cent at 38.95 cents per lb. Higher soy and weak dollar combine to lift soyoil futures. Weakness in crude oil weighs.

FCPO-JAKARTA, March 26 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell 1.59 percent to a one-week low on Friday on the strength in the ringgit and as concerns over a dry weather spell leading to tight supplies eased.

The benchmark June crude palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 41 ringgit, or 1.59 percent, at 2,534 ringgit ($767) per tonne. Overall trade volume was 14,711 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, March 26 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets ended slightly higher on Friday after investors bought big-cap stocks as hopes grew of a debt bail-out for Greece.

Investors took their lead from U.S. stock futures, which pointed to a higher start on Friday, dealers said. At 0948 GMT, the futures <.DJM0> were up 0.24 percent.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> finished 0.6 percent higher although the city state's stronger-than-expected factory output in February fuelled expectations of policy tightening next month. [ID:nSGE62P052]

Among actively traded stocks, Straits Asia Resources was up 3.8 percent and developer CapitaLand gained 2.3 percent.

Malaysia's index <.KLSE> was up 0.2 percent, with gaming group Genting rising 1.7 percent and palm plantation firm Sime Darby up 0.8 percent.

One weak spot was Telekom Malaysia , which fell 1.4 percent after Hwang DBS Vickers downgraded the stock to "hold" after a recent run-up in the share price.