Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slipped on Friday and the S&P 500 and Dow fell for a second straight week on persistent concerns the recovery has tapered off.

Even so, major indexes came off Friday's lows as some investors homed in on positive outlooks in the tech sector and used this week's M&A news as an excuse for late-day buying.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> slipped 57.59 points, or 0.56 percent, to 10,213.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was off 3.94 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,071.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 0.81 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,179.76.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures closed lower on Friday as the front-month September contract expired, losing for the third day in a row and down for the second straight week as worries about a stalling economic recovery festered.

U.S. equities fell as concern about the jobs market and slower manufacturing pace that prevailed on Thursday continued, helping spark another day of selling in oil futures.

On NYMEX, September crude settled down 97 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $73.46 a barrel, the lowest since front-month prices ended at $71.98 on July 6. It traded from $73.19, lowest since July 7's intraday low of $71.44, to $74.60.

CBOT-CHICAGO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex close on Friday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - September down 7-1/2 cents per bushel at $10.09-1/4. Outlooks for a record large U.S. soy crop for this year's harvest, a firm dollar, lower crude oil and weak equities combine to weigh on market. Talk China may sell soybeans from its reserves also weighing on market.

CBOT-SOYOIL - September down 0.37 cent per lb at 39.52 cents per lb. Spillover pressure from lower soybeans and weak crude oil. Talk China may sell soyoil from its reserves also weighing on market.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures notched their biggest weekly fall since last October as traders took profits from a recent weather rally in global soyoil markets and lower palm oil exports.

Palm oil tumbled 2.4 percent to a three-week low after surveyors reported lacklustre Malaysian exports for August 1-20. It also took cues from sharp declines in China's soyoil market as both commodities compete for use in the food and fuel sectors.

The benchmark November crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended almost 2 percent, or 51 ringgit, lower to 2,544 ringgit ($813) after going as low as 2,533 -- a level unseen since July 30. Traded volume almost doubled, to 19,861 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Friday, bolstered by foreign inflows into most of the region's emerging economies, with Indonesia hitting a record high for a second day and Malaysia finishing at a one-year high.

Indonesia <.JKSE>, Asia's second-best performer this year, gained 0.4 percent, beating its previous record a day earlier.

Malaysia <.KLSE> scaled a one-year high, just shy of an all-time record, gaining 0.18percent, while Thailand <.SETI>, Southeast Asia's second-best performer, closed up 0.3 percent, hovering near 33-month highs on continued foreign buying.

Singapore's Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> bucked the regional trend, slumping 0.61 percent before closing at 0.35 percent, with investors staying on the sidelines after poor U.S. economic data led to Wall Street losses overnight.