Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Wall Street resumed its rally on Monday, led by natural resources and tech shares as investors saw stocks regaining momentum lost late last week.

A share-buyback from Dow component Intel helped revive optimism, which has been reinforced by more strong profit reports. Three-quarters of the 84 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far in this earnings season have beaten analysts'
estimates.

On Monday the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> ended up 108.68 points, or 0.92 percent, at 11,980.52. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 7.49 points, or 0.58 percent, at 1,290.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 28.01 points, or 1.04 percent, at 2,717.55.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended lower for the fifth straight session on Monday as currently ample stockpiles weighed and investors shrugged off forecasts that oil demand will rise this year.

Early in the session, extremely cold weather in the Northeast, the top heating oil market, lifted heating oil futures to fresh 27-month highs. But they were dragged down by crude and ended lower.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, March crude settled $1.24 lower, or 1.39 percent, at $87.87 a barrel, after trading from $87.27, the lowest since Jan. 7's low of $87.25, and $89.63.

CBOT-CHICAGO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soybean futures close on Monday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - March down 7-3/4 cents at $14.04-1/2 per bushel. Profit-taking, better crop weather in Argentina weigh on soybean futures but market underpinned by good demand for soy by China.

CBOT-SOYOIL - March down 0.38 cent at 57.18 cents per lb. Following soybeans and lower crude oil.

FCPO-Jakarta Jan 24 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended off a two week high on Monday, tracking comparative vegetable oil prices higher as traders were concerned the ongoing rally might dent demand.

The benchmark April 2011 crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended flat at 3,748 Malaysian ringgit ($1,224) a tonne. Prices earlier in the day hit a high at 3,836 ringgit, a level not seen since Jan. 7. Overall, traded volume stood at 23,570 lots of 25 tonnes each compared with a total of 12,496 lots on Friday.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-COLOMBO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Thailand's stock market fell 4.3percent on Monday, leading most other Southeast Asian bourses down as foreign investors continued to bale out of markets they believe are vulnerable to growing inflationary pressures.

Thailand <.SETI> posted its biggest loss since Oct 15, 2009, led by energy and banking shares. Indonesia <.JKSE>, the region's worst-performing bourse this year, lost 1 percent and the Philippines <.PSI> fell 1.2 percent to a 4-½ month low.

Thailand and Malaysia saw trading volume go above their 90-day average on Monday, but turnover elsewhere was fairly low.

Malaysia is trading at 14.0 times this year's projected earnings, the highest in the region and compared to all-Asia's 12.9. Thailand is trading at 12.0, lower than the 13.8 of Singapore, 13.2 of Indonesia and 12.5 of the Philippines, Thomson Reuters StarMine data shows.