Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks sank nearly 4 percent on Thursday on growing fears the euro zone's efforts to tackle its sovereign debt crisis will fall short, jeopardizing the global economic recovery.

Selling picked up speed late in the day and indexes closed around their session lows after the U.S. Senate voted to end debate on the sweeping overhaul of financial regulation, allowing a final vote on the bill later on Thursday or Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 376.36 points, or 3.60 percent, to end at 10,068.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> slid 43.46 points, or 3.90 percent, to 1,071.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 94.36 points, or 4.11 percent, to 2,204.01.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - Expiring U.S. June crude futures ended 2.66 percent lower on Thursday on high oil inventories and concerns that Europe's sovereign debt crisis will hurt economic recovery and curb oil demand growth.

Trading was volatile and crude prices fell to nine-month lows intraday before bouncing back to pare losses late in the session. But crude futures settled lower for the seventh time in eight sessions.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the expiring June crude fell $1.86, or 2.66 percent, to settle at $68.01 a barrel, trading from $64.24 to $71.29.

CBOT-CHICAGO, May 20 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex futures close on Thursday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - July up 5-1/2 cents at $9.44 per bushel; new-crop November up 2-1/4 at $9.08. Soy turned higher when the dollar began falling, the euro rallied and crude oil moved above the day's lows. Late fund short-covering boosted soy as did slow farmer selling, firm cash markets and talk soy cargoes were being switched from South America to the U.S.

CBOT-SOYOIL - July down 0.11 cent at 37.39 cents per lb. Pressure from falling crude oil.

FCPO-JAKARTA, May 20 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose to their highest close in more than a week on Thursday, lifted by better export data and a weaker ringgit, traders said.

The benchmark August crude palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 1.68 percent, or 41 ringgit, to 2,476 ringgit ($810.4) a tonne, its highest close since May 12. Traded volume jumped to 18,658 lots of 25 tonnes each, almost double the daily average of 10,000 lots.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-COLOMBO, May 20 (Reuters) - Major Southeast Asian markets fell on Thursday as worries over euro zone debt crisis further soured investors' appetite for risk.

Singapore <.FTSTI> fell 0.8 percent, Indonesia <.JKSE> lost 1.3 percent, while Malaysia and Philippines <.PSI> slid 0.3 percent.

In Singapore, the bourse fell for a third session to hit its lowest since March 1, despite data showing the economy grew more than expected in the first quarter helped by a recovery in manufacturing.

Malaysia fell for a fifth straight session led by 1.8 percent fall in Genting and 3 percent slip in Telecom Malaysia .