Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Wall Street erased earlier losses and ended little changed on Monday as investors shrugged off a surprise weekend interest rate hike from China's central bank.

In a quiet day for equities with no major economic data or corporate news, trading volume, which usually dips during the holiday season, was even lighter as a blizzard moved across the northeastern United States.

Financial stocks rose, in part boosted by a rally in American International Group shares, and helped the S&P 500 cut losses and turn positive in afternoon trade.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> settled down 20.73 points, or 0.18 percent, at 11,552.76. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 0.74 points, or 0.06 percent, at 1,257.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 4.25 points, or 0.16 percent, at 2,669.85.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Dec 27 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended lower on Monday, slipping from a 26-month high hit last week, after China raised interest rates at the weekend.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, February crude fell 51 cents, or 0.56 percent, to settle at $91.00 a barrel.

Trading was razor thin due to a snowstorm that pummeled the northeastern United States and delayed the start of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

CBOT-CHICAGO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex closing trends on Monday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - January up 23-1/2 cents at $13.73 per bushel Front-month January rose to $13.78-1/4, highest spot price in 27-1/2 months, on concerns about hot and dry weather forecast in Argentina, and chart-based buying.

CBOT-SOYOIL - January up 0.56 cent at 57.15 cents per lb. Following soybeans. Strong profit margins at crushers also supportive amid strong global demand for vegoils.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures <0#KPO:> hit 33-month highs on Monday as hopes of strong China demand and erratic weather helped shrug off Beijing's surprise interest rate hike.

China soyoil <0#DBY:> recovered some losses, after dropping earlier in the day, on expectations that the government would restock food staples next year and prospects of stronger demand ahead of the Lunar New Year.

Traders said the main driver for palm oil futures include heavy rains hurting yields and disrupting harvesting in Malaysia and Indonesia as well as a dry spell potentially cutting into South American soybean production.

Benchmark March 2011 palm oil on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose as much as 2.8 percent to 3,767 ringgit ($1,217) per tonne, the highest since March 14, 2008 and confirming an earlier Reuters technical analysis. The contract settled at 3,756 ringgit. Traded volume almost doubled at 18,543 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Singapore shares climbed to two-week highs on Monday and other Southeast Asian stock markets mostly posted small gains, with a surprise interest rate rise in China doing little to dampen optimism about economic growth.

Investors bought commodity shares, especially palm plantation firms, and that outweighed weaker demand for other sectors in holiday-thinned trade.

Singapore's Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> ended up 0.5 percent, Indonesia's main index <.JKSE> gained 0.4 percent and Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange index <.VNI> closed up 0.06 percent, while Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur composite index <.KLSE> was flat.