Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - Global stocks rose on Friday on solid corporate earnings while the euro gained against the dollar after fewer-than-expected European banks failed stress tests.

Safe-haven assets such as gold and U.S. Treasuries dropped after European regulators reported that only seven of 91 banks failed the tests, which were designed to show the impact of Europe's sovereign debt crisis on its financial institutions.

The market recovery seemed fragile, however. Some analysts questioned the credibility of the tests after regulators revealed they were applied only to the bank's trading books -- not their banking books.

Under the worst stress scenario, the seven weaker banks -- five of them from Spain -would face a capital shortfall of 3.5 billion euros ($4.5 billion).

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> climbed 102.32 points, or 0.99 percent, to end at 10,424.62 -- just about 4 points shy of its close at the end of 2009. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 8.99 points, or 0.82 percent, to finish at 1,102.66 -- or about 13 points below its year-end 2009 close.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, July 23 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures fell on Friday but ended well above the day's lows, paring losses as Wall Street surged in late trade on strong earnings results.

Oil futures pared losses on production shut-ins in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie, but storm worries eased as Bonnie was not expected to become a hurricane before making landfall between the Louisiana coast and Florida's northwest Panhandle early on Sunday morning.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for September delivery settled down 32 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $78.98 a barrel, after trading from $78.40 to $79.60. It briefly turned positive in late trading before moving down again near the close.

CBOT-CHICAGO, July 23 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex close on Friday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - August up 1 cent at $10.17 per bushel; new-crop November up 2 at $9.81-1/2. Market underpinned by European crop concerns and uncertainty about U.S. crop weather in August, the key month for soybean development.

CBOT-SOYOIL - August up 0.17 cent at 39.07 cents per lb. Edging higher, following soybeans. Rally limited by weakness in crude oil.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil fell 0.8 percent on Friday on expectations of lower export data next week although losses were limited by concerns that heavier rains may curb output growth.

Traders said the palm oil market was taking a breather with some investors booking profits after the tropical oil hit a ten-week high on Thursday.

The benchmark October contract on Bursa Malaysia's Derivatives Exchange ended down 21 ringgit at 2,498 ringgit ($779.6). The previous day the contract hit its highest since May. 10. Overall volumes shot up to 15,995 lots of 25 tonnes each from the usual 10,000 lots.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, July 23 (Reuters) - Indonesian stocks hit a new record on Friday and outperformed the region for the week following the nomination of new central bank governor and low rate outlook amid economic optimism across Southeast Asia.

Indonesia's parliament approved the appointment of Darmin Nasution as central bank governor on Thursday, as expected, a move seen as positive for the country's reform drive and for bonds, stocks and the currency.

Singapore <.FTSTI> rose 0.6 percent to its highest in almost three months, Malaysia <.KLSE> gained 0.7 percent, hovering around 10-week highs and Thailand <.SETI> closed up 0.87 percent at 26-month highs.

In Singapore, property stocks gained after final private home prices data from Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released on Friday for the second quarter revised up to 5.3 percent from 5.2 percent earlier.