Trader's highlight

DJI -NEW YORK, Oct 12 (Reuters) - World stocks advanced for a sixth straight day on Wednesday and the euro rose against the U.S. dollar after the final nation in the euro zone reached a deal to strengthen a regional bailout fund, boosting investor confidence.

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 stock index compiled a gain of 9.8 percent over the past seven sessions, its steepest advance since mid-March 2009.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> added 102.55 points, or 0.90 percent, to 11,518.85. The S&P 500 <.SPX> was up 11.71 points, or 0.98 percent, to 1,207.25. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> rose 21.70 points, or 0.84 percent, to 2,604.73.

NYMEX - NEW YORK, Oct 12 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures closed lower for the first time in six sessions on Wednesday as investors took profits after gains of more than 13 percent during the previous five sessions.

The late bout of profit-taking developed ahead of weekly inventory reports, in which domestic crude inventories were forecast to have increased in the week to Oct. 7.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for November delivery settled at $85.57 a barrel, falling 24 cents, or 0.28 percent, after trading between $84.52 to $86.59.

CBOT - SOYBEANS, Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher, the third straight daily rise, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut its forecasts of U.S. 2011/12 soy yield and ending stocks.

USDA lowered its forecast of U.S. 2011/12 soy ending stocks to 160 million bushels, from 165 million. The figure was below the average trade estimate of 183 million.

FCPO - SINGAPORE, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures climbed to a near two-week high on Wednesday, as short covering ahead of a key agriculture report from the United States lifted the market.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will update its estimates of U.S. corn and soybean crops later in the day, and in the past, such reports have triggered sharp rallies by showing stocks or crops dramatically smaller than trade expectations.

December palm oil futures <0#FCPO:> on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled 2.3 percent higher at 2,864 ringgit ($911) a tonne. It earlier hit 2,879 ringgit -- the highest since Sept 30.

REGIONAL EQUITIES - BANGKOK, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets pushed higher on Wednesday as investors bought commodities-related shares, while an Indonesian interest rate cut helped spur buying in banks.

Among bright spots in the region, palm oil stocks gained as Malaysian palm oil futures rose to a one-week high, buoyed by gains in comparative vegetable oils ahead of a key agriculture report from the United States.

Singapore-listed Wilmar International Ltd gained 3.1 percent, Malaysia's IOI Corporation Bhd rose 2.7 percent and Indonesia's PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk surged 6.5 percent.