Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 <.SPX> hit a four-month high and pushed through a pair of resistance levels on Monday, driving more traders into the market and extending the month's gains.

The S&P 500 has struggled to make a sustained move above 1,130 since June, most recently making an intraday break through it on Friday. Some traders expect a breakout if the index holds above the level on solid volume.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 133.96 points, or 1.26 percent, at 10,741.81. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 14.89 points, or 1.32 percent, at 1,140.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 32.54 points, or 1.41percent, at 2,348.15.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil prices rose on Monday, snapping a string of four consecutive lower settlements, and tracking broad gains in equity markets that were lifted by optimism about the strength of the economic recovery.

Oil prices also received a lift from an expected drop in crude oil inventories in the United States following the outage last week on one of the main pipelines delivering crude from Canada.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, October crude rose $1.20, or 1.63 percent, to settle at $74.86 a barrel, trading from $73.32 to $75.45.

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

CBOT-SOYBEANS - November up 15-1/2 cents per bushel at $10.84-1/2 a bushel. Hit a one-year high on concerns about dryness in portions of South America's crop region, a freeze in Canada that may have harmed immature canola, and a freeze in China. China's Dalian soy and corn markets were up sharply.

CBOT-SOYOIL - October up 0.74 cent at 42.65 cents per lb. Following strength in soybeans.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Global vegetable oil markets surged on Monday as investors took positions on concerns a dry spell may curb grain output in the Americas.

Agriculture markets have been moving higher on concerns erratic weather across the globe will limit supplies for the food sector, potentially stoking inflation in China.

The most active May soyoil contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange hit a fresh record and RBD palm olein futures jumped as much as 3.8 percent ahead of China's long holidays that start on Wednesday.

The benchmark December crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia closed 81ringgit higher at 2,720 ringgit ($876.5) after hitting five-week highs earlier in the session. U.S. soyoil for October delivery climbed 2 percent.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Philippine stocks hit another all-time high on Monday as optimism over earnings pushed banks up, but other markets in the region were mixed ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting on Tuesday to review interest rates.

The Philippine share index <.PSI> finished 1.9 percent higher at the day's high of 4,053.32 and the market saw $44 million of foreign money flow in, the biggest daily inflows in a week, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Singapore's Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> inched up 0.15 percent, erasing some of its early gains to close below recent 27-month highs, but Malaysia <.KLSE> rose 0.19 percent, although below a 32-month peak hit last week.