DJI- NEW YORK, July 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, hit by more warnings in the technology sector, while a rally in Procter & Gamble PG.N helped the blue-chip Dow cut its loss.
Shares of consumer products giant Procter & Gamble PG.N rose 3.7 percent to $63.70 after a source said activist investor William Ackman appears to be building a stake in the U.S. household products company. (nL2E8IC7Z) Despite the support, the Dow ended lower for a sixth day.
Tech shares remained under pressure, with the S&P technology sector index down 3.5 percent for the month so far. Indian IT heavyweight Infosys Ltd INFY.NS INFY.O became the latest big tech company to warn of sluggish sales, saying global economic uncertainty was hitting technology spending. (nL3E8IC0P5)
U.S.-listed shares of Infosys slid 11.2 percent to $38.75, after earlier dropping to an all-time low of $38.12.
"I think it is the fear that technology companies are going to miss estimates" this earnings period, said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Asset Management in Boston.
Profit warnings from companies such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD.N have hurt the sector in recent days. The S&P tech sector index .GSPT ended Thursday down 1.1 percent.
All three major U.S. stock indexes recovered from their lows of the day, with the S&P 500 bouncing off its 50-day moving average at 1,334 and the Dow briefly trading higher after hitting technical support at 12,500, analysts said.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI shed 31.26 points, or 0.25 percent, to 12,573.27 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX shed 6.69 points, or 0.50 percent, to 1,334.76. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC lost 21.79 points, or 0.75 percent, to close at 2,866.19.
The Dow has lost 2.9 percent since its close on July 3.
Overall market sentiment was weak, especially after the lack of any monetary easing by the Bank of Japan on Thursday, and few clues on Wednesday in the minutes from the Federal Reserve's June policy meeting. The lack of policy moves suggested major central banks were still cautious about the need for further easing.
On the earnings front, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research lowered its forecast on the S&P 500's 2012 earnings per share to $102 from $103.50, and for 2013, to $109 from $110.50.
The forecasts were cut "to reflect the impact of lower commodity prices and slower global growth on corporate profits," BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research analysts said in a note.
Data on the economy showed some promising signs, however. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits in the United States dropped to the lowest in four years.
Other economic data showed U.S. June import prices fell 2.7 percent, the most in more than three years, due to a plunge in the cost of imported oil, further icing inflation pressures. (nOATCIE85L)
Volume was a bit lighter than average. About 6.46 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and Amex, compared with the year-to-date daily average of 6.85 billion shares.
Decliners beat advancers by a ratio of about 19 to 11 on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq, by about 3 to 2.
NYMEX- NEW YORK, July 12 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures edged up on Thursday in choppy trade, rallying after the United States announced new sanctions on Iran, said fronts for Iran's tanker companies had been exposed and as a North Sea production problem added to a tight supply outlook.
CBOT SOYBEAN- Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade unofficially ended higher on worries that mostly dry weather in the U.S. Midwest would further reduce crop yields, traders said.
* A 3 percent rise in CBOT corn added support.
* But rain, while welcome, limited gains in the Mississippi
River Delta and the mid-South crop regions.
* Nearly two-thirds of the Midwest region was in some stage of drought in the week ended July 10, up from just over 50 percent a week earlier, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. (nL2E8ICBZM)
• The U.S. Midwest should see only minor rains over the next week to 10 days, forecasters said. The updated midday run of the U.S. weather model was drier than the previous one, moving closer toward the European model's outlook. (nL2E8IC96M)
• Investment bank Goldman Sachs cut its U.S. corn yield forecast for the second time in less than two weeks and raised its price forecasts for corn, soybean and wheat due to dry U.S. weather. Goldman raised its three- and six-month price soybean forecasts to $16.25 per bushel, from $15.50. (nL3E8IC2B6)
• Barclays raised its third-quarter soybean price forecast to $14.80 per bushel, from $14.25, citing the ongoing U.S. drought. (nL3E8IC3FA)
• USDA reported export sales of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 759,200 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), above trade expectations for 375,000 to 650,000 tonnes.
• USDA reported weekly export sales of U.S. soymeal at 169,600 tonnes and soyoil sales at 33,900 tonnes, both in line with trade expectations.
FCPO- SINGAPORE, July 12 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures tumbled on Thursday, as traders took profit, prompted partly by a forecast for rain over the weekend in the drought-hit, soy-producing U.S. Midwest that could ease concerns of tight oilseed supply.
Lower Malaysian palm oil exports for the first 10 days of July also fuelled some of the declines, as the market had largely priced in lower ending stocks in June and strong Asian festival demand for the past few weeks.
"All the bullish factors have already been laid on the table, so traders just have to take profit and decide on what to do next," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
"The rain in a way helped ease the market because it was on a bullish weather run. But if the rain doesn't materialise, traders will put their money back into the market."
Benchmark September palm oil futures FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 2.3 percent to close at 3,012 ringgit ($944) per tonne.
Traded volumes stood at 45,851 lots of 25 tonnes each, much higher than the usual 25,000 lots.
Technicals were bearish as palm oil is expected to drop to a support at 2,970 ringgit, a break below which will open the way towards 2,919 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. (nL3E8IC0DY)
The weather is expected to turn wetter for parts of the U.S. Midwest, Commodity Weather Group said in a note to clients on Wednesday, offering some relief on the tight global oilseed supply situation. (nL2E8IB9HN)
But the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cut soybean yields due to the persistent drought and analysts said that could be supportive for palm oil prices. (nL2E8IB261)
Market players are also on the lookout for the possibility of El Nino returning to the region as dry weather could cut palm oil output, further eating into 14-month-low palm oil stocks in June.
While cargo surveyors said Malaysia's palm oil exports fell sharply from July 1 to 10, the market was expecting more orders to come in as the Asian festival season gets underway with China and India celebrating key holidays from September to November. PALM/ITS PALM/SGS
REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, July 12 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets closed mostly lower on Thursday as concerns over global growth outlook prompted selling in large caps such as telecoms and a drop in oil prices weighed on energy linked shares.
Thai SET index .SETI slid 1.3 percent, retreating after notching up a 1.8 percent gain over the past two sessions. Telecoms group Shin Corp Pcl INTUCH.BK dropped 4.2 percent after Wednesday's 4.3 percent gain.
Malaysia .KLSE, Singapore .FTSTI and Indonesia .JKSE also ended their two-day gains. Malaysia's benchmark index .KLSE finished down 0.24 percent at 1,625.49, climbing at one point to 1,632.94, its intraday record high.
