Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended a seventh straight week of gains with a banks-led rally amid healthy volume after encouraging financial results from JPMorgan.

Strength in financial stocks helped offset economic reports that showed soft December retail sales and consumer sentiment dented by rising gasoline prices. The market's resilience will be tested next week when a number of banks report results.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> added 55.48 points, or 0.47 percent, to 11,787.38. The Standard & Poor's 500 <.SPX> rose 9.48 points, or 0.74 percent, to 1,293.24. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> gained 20.01 points, or 0.73 percent, to2,755.30.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil prices ended up on Friday with their best percentage gain in six weeks, as earnings optimism on Wall Street overshadowed oil demand worries due to China's latest raising of bank reserve requirements.

Despite the gain, U.S. crude lagged well behind Brent crude, which ended at a 27-month high with its premium to benchmark West Texas Intermediate at a 23-month peak.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for February delivery settled up 14cents, or 0.15 percent, at $91.54 a barrel, after trading from $90.10 to $91.69.

CBOT-CHICAGO, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex close on Friday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - March up 6-1/2 cents at $14.22-1/2 per bushel. January expired down 3-1/2 cents at $14.06-1/2. Late short-covering and evening up before the weekend lifted soy by the close. Underlying fundamentals remain bullish and overrode early pressure from profit-taking. Concern about the fate of Argentina's soybean crop due to weather problems also supportive.

CBOT-SOYOIL - March off 0.44 cent at 57.27 cents per lb. January expired down 0.60 cent per lb at 56.70. Following crude oil futures lower.


FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Friday, ahead of export data that may show an improvement in demand at a time when supplies are tightening.

Vegetable oil supplies have been limited by heavy rains in palm oil-producing Indonesia and Malaysia and dry weather hitting soyoil-exporting Argentina, fuelling prices to multi-month highs and raising food shortage fears.

The benchmark March 2011 crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended down 0.4 percent to 3,680 Malaysian ringgit ($1,205) a tonne. Overall traded volume rose to 22,663 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to the usual 15,000 lots.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Major Southeast Asian bourses ended lower on Friday, with investors quickly cashing in gains in heavyweight financial stocks, and foreign money continued to flow out of the Philippines <.PSI>, Indonesia <.JKSE> and Thailand <.SETI> this week.

However, a late rebound brought Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index <.JKSE> back into positive terrain on the day, with a rise of 0.12 percent, in falling volume of 0.65 times its average 30-day volume, similar to most markets in the region.

Indonesia fell 1.72 percent on the week, the worst in the region, ahead of a 1.68 percent loss in the Philippines. Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand drifted down on the week, reversing last week's gains.

In Singapore, trade was relatively active at 1.4 times its 30-day average. Property developers and banks fell after the government announced new measures to cool home prices.

CapitaLand , Southeast Asia's biggest developer, dropped 3.4 percent while DBS Group Holdings eased 0.8 percent.