Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on Wednesday as investors put the previous day's uncertainty aside and snapped up some of the week's biggest losers in renewed optimism the rally remains intact.

Banks, which lost 3 percent over the past two sessions, rebounded. The S&P 500 Financials index <.GSPF> gained 1.4 percent and was the best performer of the S&P 500's top 10 sectors.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 10.29 points, or 0.09 percent, to end at 11,357.04. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 5.31 points, or 0.44 percent, to 1,218.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> advanced 15.80 points, or 0.62 percent, to close at 2,578.78.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures prices rose to a 25-month high on Wednesday, pushing above $88 a barrel intraday, as government data showed crude oil inventories fell sharply last week, against expectations stocks would rise.

U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed that domestic crude inventories fell 3.3 million barrels last week, against a forecast for a 1.4 million barrel increase.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, December crude rose $1.09, or 1.26 percent, to settle at $87.81 a barrel, the highest since front-month crude closed at $88.95 on Oct. 8, 2008. Wednesday's trading range was from $86.10 to $88.21, posting the intraday high in post-settlement trading.

CBOT-CHICAGO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex futures close on Wednesday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - November down 9-3/4 cents at $13.09-1/2 per bushel; January down 9-1/2 at $13.19-1/2. Firm dollar and profit-taking after the strong rally on Tuesday combine to weigh on market. Soybeans technically overbought and due for a downward correction.

CBOT-SOYOIL - December up 0.55 cent at 53.95 cents per lb. Turned higher, supported by an upturn in crude oil and strong global vegoil markets.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures extended their rally into a fifth day as heavy rain in palm growing areas of the country was expected to curb production.

The benchmark Malaysia crude palm oil contract closed up about 1 percent at 3,393 ringgit ($1,089). It had hit a fresh two-year high of 3,410 ringgit in morning trade. before falling on concerns of poor demand and a firmer dollar.

Some planters said Malaysia's palm oil production may fall 5-10 percent each month for November and December as heavy rains curb yields and floods make transportation of the vegetable oil difficult.

Palm oil exports data from key export surveyors was also mixed, leading to volatile trading.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products fell 1.1 percent to 390,534 tonnes for the first 10 days of November, according to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services.

The other key cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance, however, said exports of Malaysian palm oil products for Nov. 1-10 rose 1 percent to 386,762 tonnes from 382,828 tonnes shipped from Oct. 1-10.

Malaysia's October palm oil stocks rose 4.9 percent to a 10-month highs of 1,792,840 tonnes, industry regulator Malaysian Palm Oil Board said on Wednesday. Overall traded volume more than doubled to 29,471 lots of 25
tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Malaysian and Indonesian shares both rose for a fifth session to all-time highs on Wednesday, led by gains in big-cap banks, while most others in the region suffered profit-taking after recent gains.

Trading sentiment in Southeast Asian sharemarkets was generally lukewarm as the strong U.S. dollar dulled appetite for risk assets. The dollar index <.DXY> rose as high as 77.88 on the day, a level it last touched in late October.

Malaysia's main share index <.KLSE> inched up 0.1 percent to a record closing high of 1,528.01. It climbed to a record intraday high of 1,531.99 at one point as investors continued to move cash into stocks, a Kuala Lumpur-based dealer said.

Among financial outperformers, Malaysia's Hong Leong Bank rose 4.7 percent while Indonesia's PT Bank International Indonesia surged 25 percent.

Late selling pulled Thai shares off <.SETI> their highest level in more than 14 years while Singapore's Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> dropped 0.7 percent, pausing after climbing to a 34-month high on Tuesday, pulled lower by weaknesses in commodity stocks.

A worse-than-expected result for Singapore's Wilmar International , the world's biggest listed palm oil plantation firm, triggered profit-taking in the stock and its commodity peers, dealers said. [ID:nSGE6A804R]

Wilmar dropped 5.4 percent. Olam International fell 3 percent while Golden Agri-Resources lost 2.6 percent. Buying interest in palm oil shares had helped push Singapore to multi-year highs amid price optimism.