Trader's highlight

DOW JONES - NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Reuters)- U.S. stocks advanced on Tuesday, pushing the S&P 500 to its highest since early August, but sharply pared gains late in the session as Citigroup's steep drop in profit gave investors a reason to unload bank shares.

The financial sector, which has outperformed the broader market so far this year, took a hit on investors' disappointment with Citigroup Inc's earnings.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 60.01 points, or 0.48 percent, t 12,482.07 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> added 4.58 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,293.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 17.41
points, or 0.64 percent, to 2,728.08.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures gained for the first time in four sessions on Tuesday on better-than-expected New York State manufacturing data, upbeat German investment sentiment and prospects for pro-growth monetary policies in China.

Returning from a three-day holiday weekend, crude for February delivery settled on the New York Mercantile Exchange with a gain of more than 2 percent, the highest one-day risesince Jan. 3.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for February delivery settled at$100.71 a barrel, gaining $2.01, or 2.04 percent.

CBOT-SOYBEANS, Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade ended, halting a four-day slide, as concerns about crop prospects in Argentina helped lift the market from last week's multiweek lows.

Argentine crops will suffer from hot weather and scant rains for the rest of this week, forecasters said, increasing worries that crop losses will eat into global supplies.

Hamburg-based newsletter Oil World cut its forecasts of the 2012 soybean crops in key exporters Argentina and Brazil by a combined 3.8 million tonnes.

Market buoyed by bullish data from the National Oilseed Processors Association which pegged the U.S. December soy crush at 145.420 million bushels, above a range of trade
estimates.

FCPO-SINGAPORE, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures bounced back on Tuesday, as concerns over dry weather that could potentially tighten soyoil supplies in Argentina and Brazil offset investor fears about the euro zone debt crisis.

Argentina's drought will worsen this week, say local meteorologists, dashing hopes that rain in the days ahead might be strong enough to revive parched corn and soy fields.

Benchmark April palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange jumped 1.2 percent to close at 3,164 ringgit ($1013) per tonne. Prices dropped to 3,099 ringgit the previous day, a level last seen on Dec. 22. Traded volumes stood at 25,785 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly higher than the usual 25,000 lots as some traders are evening out their positions before the Lunar New Year holidays next week.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday as above-forecast GDP growth in China eased worries about the global economy, luring buyers to regional big caps and resource shares.

Consumer goods and financial stocks also outperformed as they are expected to benefit from resilient domestic demand in the region.

Gains in major world stock markets spurred late buying, with U.S. stock index futures pointing to a higher start on Tuesday and European shares hitting a five-month high.

Singapore shares <.FTSTI> rose to two-month highs, finishing up 2.2 percent. Thai stocks <.SETI> climbed 1.9 percent and the Philippines <.PSI> rose 1.4 percent, pushing it close to last week's record high.

Singapore-listed commodity trading firm Noble Group Ltd surged 5.9 percent and Thailand's biggest energy firm, PTT Pcl , rose 2.8 percent.