Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Rising fears of another recession hammered U.S. stocks on Thursday, sending major averages sharply lower in a return to the extreme fluctuations investors endured a week ago.

New worries about the health of European banks set the tone before the market's open, and a dismal report on regional U.S. manufacturing fueled a downward spiral in which the Dow dropped as much as 528 points, spurring a flight to safe-haven assets like gold.

The Nasdaq ended more than 5 percent lower, the S&P 500 more than 4 percent and the blue-chip Dow off more than 3 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 419.63 points, or 3.68 percent, to 10,990.58, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX declined 53.24 points, or 4.46 percent, to 1,140.65, and the Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC dropped 131.05 points, or 5.22 percent, to 2,380.43.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Aug 18 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures fell nearly 6 percent on Thursday as a fresh batch of weak economic data from the United States hit investor confidence already worried about global economic growth and Europe's debt problems.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, September crude CLU1 fell $5.20, or 5.94 percent, to settle at $82.38 a barrel. The intraday intraday high was $87.53 and the low, reached in post-settlement trade was $81.15.

CBOT-SOYBEANS-Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell on concerns about a slowdown in the global economy that fueled a rally in the U.S. dollar, traders said.

A sharp drop in crude oil added pressure, with spot NYMEX crude futures CLc1 sagging more than $5 a barrel, or nearly 6 percent.

FCPO-JAKARTA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended little changed on Thursday as expectations of higher demand and lower output were offset by lingering worries about global economic growth.

The benchmark November contract KPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended 0.2 percent lower at 3,026 Malaysian ringgit ($1,016) per tonne. It earlier hit a high of 3,043 ringgit, to hover near two week highs.

Traded volumes for the contract were 11,513 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to 11,344 lots on Wednesday, which was a national holiday in Indonesia, the world's top palm oil producer.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Some Southeast Asian stock markets gained on Thursday as optimism about regional growth bolstered demand for consumer and bank stocks but a bearish outlook in the technology sector, after Dell's disappointing outlook, hurt related sectors.

Investors appeared to favour relatively less export-dependent markets with strong domestic consumption such as Indonesia .JKSE, but concern about the U.S. and European slowdown lingered, triggering late selling in some markets.

Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines have pulled out of "oversold" zones, with the 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) of each pushing back into a neutral area of 38.4, 53.49, 49.98 and 51.73 respectively.