Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged down in a low-volume session on Monday on worries Europe's credit crisis will spread despite a weekend agreement to bail out Ireland.

But stocks finished well off their lows of the day as the dollar retraced some of its earlier gains and energy and financial stocks rallied late in the session.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 39.51 points, or 0.36 percent, to 11,052.49. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 1.64 points, or 0.14 percent, to 1,187.76. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 9.34 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2,525.22.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures rebounded more than 2 percent on Monday, fueled by a rally in gasoline and heating oil futures and geopolitical risks.

U.S. gasoline futures climbed to the highest level since May 5 -- a near seven-month high -- on the spot-continuation chart.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for January delivery settled up $1.97, or 2.35 percent, at $85.73 a barrel, trading from $83.59 to $85.83, the highest since Nov. 12's $87.85.

CBOT-CHICAGO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex close on Monday.

CBOT-SOYMEAL - December down 50 cents at $336.30 a ton. Soyoil/soymeal spreading weighs on soymeal.

CBOT-SOYOIL - December down 0.03 cent at 49.87 cents per lb.
Weighed down by sag in soybeans but talk China was seeking palm oil and rising crude oil prices limit declines.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures hit a two-week high on Monday as caution receded after European authorities agreed to bail out Ireland and concerns grew over the weather in oilseed growing regions.

The price of the vegetable oil resumed a rally ahead of a price outlook conference starting in Indonesia on Wednesday from which traders are expecting bullish forecasts.

Benchmark February 2011 palm oil on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose as much as 112 ringgit, or 3.5 percent, to 3,390 Malaysian ringgit ($1,075) per tonne in the afternoon session before settling at 3,381 ringgit. Traded volumes almost doubled from the usual to 18,360 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-COLOMBO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets closed firmer on Monday in thin volume as positive sentiment over Ireland's bailout package provided relief, while Thailand gained after a court ruling removed worries there could be a forced change in government.

Risk-averse investors mostly stayed on the sidelines, waiting for clear direction over the euro zone debt crisis and the tension on the Korean peninsula.

Malaysia <.KLSE> gained 0.3 percent after falling as much as 1 percent in early trade, Vietnam <.VNI> rose for a fifth straight session, adding 1.5 percent to a two-week high, while Singapore <.FTSTI> recovered from an early 0.4 percent drop.