Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ground higher in another lightly traded session on Friday, ending a nervous week with gains despite signs of economic weakness at home and worries about public debt in Europe.

Major indexes rose for the second straight week even though housing and labor market data raised concern about the fragility of the recovery. The S&P 500 closed above its 200-day moving average for the third straight session, which suggests resilience.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 16.47 points, or 0.16 percent, to 10,450.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 1.47 points, or 0.13 percent, to 1,117.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 2.64 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,309.80.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures edged up on Friday, gaining for the second week in a row, as the market tracked slightly higher prices on Wall Street.

But oil traders worried that the prospect of slower growth in China was a sign that oil demand could falter, and that helped limit the day's gains. Data earlier in the week showing crude oil inventories rose and more workers filed jobless benefit claims also weighed on crude.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, July crude settled up 39 cents, or 0.51 percent, at $77.18 a barrel, trading from $75.56 to $77.45. It ended the week up $3.40, or 4.61 percent.

CBOT-CHICAGO, June 18 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grains and soy complex close on Friday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - July up 9 cents at $9.61 per bushel. Support from a sale of U.S. soy to an unknown destination, a sale of U.S. soyoil to China and forecasts for hotter and drier weather in the U.S. Delta Southeast. Wet weather in Canada that was trimming canola prospects also supportive.

CBOT-SOYOIL - July down 0.13 cent at 37.92 cents per lb. Late profit-taking ahead of the weekend and after early gains weighed on soyoil futures.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures inched up on Friday, extending gains from the previous day, buoyed by increased optimism about the pace of the global economic recovery.

World stocks rose for a ninth day running on Friday, extending a modest rally that has seen U.S. and European shares regain all their losses for the year, as the worst fears about the euro zone sovereign debt eased.

The benchmark September crude palm oil futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange traded up 2 ringgit at 2,400 ringgit ($736.9) a tonne after rising as high as 2,420 ringgit earlier in the session. Traded volume rose to 11,864 lots of 25 tonnes each, versus the usual 10,000 tonnes.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, June 18 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stocks rose on Friday after faring better over the week as regional economic optimism shielded investors from nagging worry over European debt and mixed global economic data.

Share markets in the region gained positive fund flows in the week amid strong trade data in May, including that of Thailand and Singapore, which analysts said helped boost hopes that economic growth was on track and boded well for market outlooks.

MSCI's Singapore <.MISG00000PSG> eased 3.5 percent, compared with a 6.05 percent fall of MSCI's index of Asian shares outside Japan.