Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 posted its third straight week of gains on Friday, lifted by optimism before this weekend's summit of European leaders and strong earnings from blue-chip stocks.

U.S. stocks rose in a broad rally to their highest levels since early August after a volatile week.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 267.01 points, or 2.31 percent, at 11,808.79. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 22.86 points, or 1.88 percent, at 1,238.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 38.84 points, or 1.49 percent, at 2,637.46.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended higher on Friday to post a third straight week of gains, helped by renewed hope for a solution to the euro zone debt crisis, though France and Germany differed on how to reach that goal.

Bickering between the two European powers is forcing EU leaders to meet twice -- on Sunday and Wednesday -- to try to draw a comprehensive strategy to resolve the crisis.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for December delivery settled at $87.40 a barrel, rising $1.33, or 1.55 percent, after trading between $85.95 and $88.89.

CBOT-SOYBEANS-Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell as
traders liquidated long positions amid uncertainty ahead of a
weekend European Union debt-crisis summit, traders said.

Traders exited long soy/short corn positions and unwound bull-spreads as well as selling outright long positions in soybeans.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures inched up on Friday as investors waited for a weekend meeting of euro zone leaders for signs of resolving the region's debt crisis that could plunge the world into recession if left unchecked.

Palm oil futures are set for their smallest weekly gain in October with prices see-sawing this week on conflicting reports over European governments reaching a deal to contain the crisis that could slow economic growth and commodity demand.

Benchmark January palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled up 0.6 percent to 2,883 ringgit ($921.292) before going as high as 2,903 percent.

Traded volumes were light at 21,057 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to the usual 25,00 lots as most of the market was cautious ahead of the European summit.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Singaporean and Thai stocks edged up on Friday as better-than-expected earnings lured buyers to big caps but others in Southeast Asia gave up early gains as fund flows to the region slowed ahead of a European summit on Sunday.

A choppy trading session, with markets moving in a narrow range, reflected nervousness over the long-running saga of the euro zone's debt problems.

Singapore's Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> and Thailand's SET index <.SETI> gained almost 1 percent, led by a 1.9 percent rise in Singapore rig builder Keppel Corp Ltd and a 4.5 percent surge in top Thai lender Bangkok Bank Pcl .

Stocks in Indonesia <.JKSE>, Malaysia <.KLSE> and the Philippines <.PSI> ended flat. Vietnam <.VNI> climbed 1.8 percent, adding to Thursday's 0.6 percent rise.

Indonesia and Malaysia reported outflows on Friday of $34 million and 5 million ringgit ($1.6 million) respectively, while the Philippines had $1.9 million in inflows, Thomson Reuters and stock exchange data showed.