DOW JONES-NEW YORK, Dec 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, as signs of strength in the economy and higher-than-expected profit at FedEx outweighed more warnings about Europe.
The U.S. equity market continued its familiar back-and-forth rotation between optimism about the U.S. economy and fears that Europe's debt crisis could spark a global recession.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 45.33 points, or 0.38 percent, at 11,868.81. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 3.93 points, or 0.32 percent, at 1,215.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 1.70 points, or 0.07 percent, at 2,541.01.
NYMEX-NEW YORK, Dec 15 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures fell a second straight session on Thursday, in volatile trading with crude options expiring, adding to the slide of more than 5 percent the previous session as concerns about economic growth in Europe and China countered supportive U.S. data.
Expiring front-month January Brent was the only oil contract to buck the downtrend, managing a 7-cent gain as it went off the board, with U.S. January crude options expiration adding to the volatility.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, January crude
CBOT-SOYBEANS, Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on a weak dollar, short-covering and concerns about pockets of dryness in South American soybean growing areas, traders said.
USDA reported export sales of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 468,600 tonnes, within trade estimates for 400,000 to 600,000 tonnes.
FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, JAKARTA, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures tumbled to a six-week low on Thursday, with a global commodities sell-off stretching from the previous day over concerns the European debt crisis was spiralling out of control.
The global economic outlook has darkened after Italy was forced to pay a record borrowing cost on five-year bonds, reinforcing the view that the European summit last week failed to provide solutions to the two-year debt crisis.
The decline in palm oil markets was more pronounced, thanks to a fall in Malaysian exports in the first half of December and a speculative mini-rally the day before, driven by concerns of monsoon rains disrupting harvests.
At the close, benchmark February palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 2.7 percent to 2,972 Malaysian ringgit ($930) after going as low as 2,971 ringgit.
REGIONAL EQUITIES-Dec 15 (Reuters) - Major Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Thursday for the third day, led by banks and commodities as a decline in Chinese factory output added to worries about the global economy and Europe's debt crisis.
China's factory output shrank again in December after new orders fell, a preliminary purchasing managers' survey showed, entrenching expectations that manufacturers are struggling with waning global demand and tight domestic credit conditions.
Indonesia <.JKSE> fell 1.3 percent to its lowest since Nov. 29, Singapore <.FTSTI> lost 1.4 percent to a 10-week closing low, the Philippines <.PSI> edged down 0.1 percent and Vietnam, the region's smallest bourse, dropped 0.8 percent to its lowest close in more than 2-1/2 years.
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