After falling on Monday to the worst levels in 13 months, the three major U.S. stock indexes finished Friday's session with gains for the week -- helped by encouraging U.S. jobs data, which prompted some buying late in the day. But those gains quickly vanished as investors switched focus near the close to focus on downgrades of the credit ratings of Spain and Italy.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> ended Friday down just 20.21 points, or 0.18percent, at 11,103.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 9.51 points, or 0.82 percent, at 1,155.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dropped 27.47 points, or 1.10 percent, at 2,479.35.
NYMEX-NEW YORK, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Speculators cut their net long positions in U.S. crude oil futures and options in the week to Oct. 4 when prices slipped, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Friday.
Hedge funds and other large investors reduced their net long positions on the New York Mercantile Exchange by more than 8,500 contracts to end Tuesday at 146,304. U.S. crude oil futures dropped from $84.45 a barrel on Sept. 27 to $75.67 a barrel on Oct. 4.
CBOT-SOYBEANS-Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell modestly on Friday, pressured by favorable U.S. harvest weather and spillover from a broader sell-off in commodities after the debt of Italy and Spain was downgraded, traders said.
The U.S. dollar <.DXY>, which had weakened earlier, supporting commodities, reversed course and firmed after the moves by credit rating agency Fitch added to the bad news in Europe's credit and banking crisis.
FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil fell on Friday and notched its worst weekly showing since June as short-sellers tapped on concerns of euro zone debt plunging the world into a recession.
The sellers, led by a major Singapore-listed planter with assets in Asia, had earlier pushed the market lower for much of the week. At one point the market hit a one-year low of 2,754 ringgit.
The benchmark December palm oil futures <0#FCPO:> on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled down 1.3 percent to 2,772 ringgit ($872) per tonne.
Overall traded volumes were light at 21,749 lots of 25 tonnes each from the usual 25,000 lots.
REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Some Southeast Asian stock markets pushed higher on Friday as buyers picked up commodity-related and big-cap shares following moves by euro zone policymakers to solve the bloc's debt crisis, although trade was cautious ahead of U.S. job data.
The region's markets had a choppy session in light to moderate trading volume, with short-term traders shifting money into selected blue chips that may have been oversold in the recent downturn.
Singapore <.FTSTI> climbed 1.4 percent as a rise in oil prices lifted energy-related stocks, led by a 5.6 percent surge in rig builder Keppel Corp Ltd
Malaysia <.KLSE> gained 0.5 percent amid optimism about the 2012 budget that was unveiled during the afternoon. Traditionally, stocks in Malaysia rise ahead of budget day on expectations about government spending but fall afterwards, traders said.
