Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged up on Thursday, with the benchmark S&P 500 index hovering around two-year highs, a trend investors expect to continue through the rest of the year.

"A lot of traders thought the market would have a little bigger bump" after breaking a key technical level of 1,228 on the S&P, said Alan Valdes, director of floor trading for DME Securities in New York.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dipped 2.42 points, or 0.02 percent, to 11,370.06. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 4.72 points, or 0.38 percent, to 1,233.00. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 7.51 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,616.67.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures prices ended sightly higher on Thursday on economic recovery optimism fueled by data showing U.S. jobless claims fell last week and on stronger gasoline futures lifted by a refinery unit outage.

Crude prices seesawed with a volatile dollar index <.DXY> amid concerns Ireland's debt problems pressuring the euro as Ireland had its debt downgraded by a ratings agency.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, January crude rose 9 cents, or 0.1 percent, to settle at $88.37 a barrel, trading from $87.71 to $89.42.

CBOT-CHICAGO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex close on Thursday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - January down 14-1/2 cents at $12.81-1/2 per bushel. Profit-taking after Wednesday's rally, firm dollar and position-squaring ahead of the release on Friday of USDA's December supply/demand reports. Downturn in crude oil adds pressure as d 1768169570

CBOT-SOYOIL - December down 0.01 cent at 53.79 cents per lb; January down 0.03 at 54.15 cents.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil rose to a fresh 29-month high on Thursday as investors bet heavier monsoon rains next month would cut production.

Investors also expected a stocks and production report by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board due on Friday to show a drawdown in inventories and lower yields at a time of resilient export demand.

The benchmark Feb 2011 crude palm oil on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose as much as 1.3 percent to 3,640 ringgit ($1,157), a level unseen since July 4, 2008, before giving up some gains to settle at 3,598 ringgit.

Traded volumes more than doubled to 22,294 lots of 25 tonnes each from the usual 10,000 lots.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-COLOMBO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets eked out small gains on Thursday, with Indonesia hitting a record high as local investors snapped up small banks due to hopes of strong earnings in 2011.

Indonesia <.JKSE>, the region's best performer this year with a 49 percent gain, closed 0.4 percent higher at an all-time closing high. The index also hit an intraday peak of 3,788.57, Reuters data showed.

Indonesia's MSCI index <.MIID00000PID> has risen 29.5 percent so far this year. Thailand's MSCI <.MITH00000PTH> index has outperformed the region with a 37.5 percent gain compared to Singapore's <.MISG00000PSG> 8.5 percent, Malaysia's 19.6 percent and the Philippines' 23.1 percent.

Thailand <.SETI>, despite foreign outflows of $6.1 million, rose 1.1 percent in thin volume, while Malaysia <.KLSE> gained 0.7 percent to a one-month high, Singapore <.FTSTI> edged up 0.2 percent and Vietnam <.VNI> added 1.7 percent.