RTRS- Rains spur planting as Brazil gears up for record soy crop

SAO PAULO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Farmers in Brazil's grain belt jump-started planting after early showers set the scene for what is expected to be a bumper corn and record soy crop, producers and analysts said on Friday.

If rains continue in the coming weeks as forecast, Brazil could churn out 81 million tonnes of oilseed and replace the drought-stricken United States as the world's top soybean producer, according to the U.S. agriculture department.

Strong and early 2012/2013 grains harvests from Brazil and neighboring Argentina would be welcome by food importing nations since lower U.S. production forecasts have driven up prices and stirred supply fears.

Farmers have sowed 0.6 percent of the projected area to be planted in top soy producing Mato Grosso state, where planting started 10 days earlier than a year ago, the privately-owned Mato Grosso Institute for Agricultural Economy (IMEA) said.

"There is planting going on throughout the state, except the Northeast where planting is usually done later anyway," Cleber Noronha, an analyst at IMEA, told Reuters.

COLD FRONT MOVES IN

A cold front brought 20 millimeters of rain to Mato Grosso in the past week, not necessarily enough to soak soils after a very dry August, but 30 additional millimeters of rain expected in coming days should do the trick, Somar Metorologia said.

"Farmers who already started to plant should not be punished, given our forecast," said Flavia Matiolio, a meteorologist at private forecaster Somar. The company feeds weather outlooks to local media, private companies and government studies in Brazil.

Brazil has harvested high-yielding crops in years when dry weather forced farmers to plant later in the season, but September sowing means harvesting can begin as early as January.

That schedule allows for smoother transport to Brazil's ports and timely exports. It also gives farmers ample time to plant second crops of corn and cotton, enjoying maximum productivity from Brazil's tropical growing season.

Brazil is now the world's No. 3 corn exporter, thanks mostly to increased output from the second of two annual corn crops. That crop, known as the safrinha, grew by 70 percent this year from a year earlier and the government says 2011/2012 corn exports should reach a record 16 million tonnes.

"Farmers want to get a head start on planting to take advantage of the second crop window... corn can be planted until Feb. 20," said IMEA's Noronha.

UNPRECEDENTED COMEBACK

Local analysts expect an unprecedented soybean comeback in Brazil this year, with weather forecasts, prices and a favorable exchange rate encouraging bets on soy after drought left a disappointing 65-million-tonne crop last season.

On the low side, Minas Gerais-based analyst Celeres expects Brazil's overall soy crop to produce a record 78.1 million tonnes, while Safras e Mercado foresees an 82.3-million-tonne crop. Brazil's government starts official forecasts on Oct. 9.

Brazil's farmers, hoping to cash in on high soybean prices spurred by supply concerns, have already sold 46 percent of the 2012/2013 crop through forward sales.

The country's area planted with soy is expected to increase by more than 8 percent from last season to 27.14 million hectares, according to local analyst Celeres. That would be one of the biggest annual jumps in planted area in nearly a decade.

"A large area planted, favorable weather forecasts, high prices... producers are investing in technology, so we should have an exceptional soy harvest this year," said Flavio Turra, an economist at cooperative Ocepar, which represents producers from Brazil's No. 2 soybean producing state Parana.

"Today it is raining in various places and it looks like the people who haven't done so already will plant," he said.

Corn and soybean prices edged higher in Chicago on Friday, modestly limiting what looks to be big weekly losses. Crop reports showing the U.S. harvest was not as bad as originally thought and rain forecasts in South America helped grains prices ease off all-time highs this week.

CBOT November soy SX2 rose 0.22 percent or 2-3/4 cents to $16.21 a bushel on Friday while CBOT December corn CZ2 added 0.47 percent or 4-1/4 cents at $7.5-1/4 a bushel.

RTRS- Informa sees larger US 2012 corn, soy planted area than USDA est

CHICAGO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Private analytics firm Informa Economics estimated U.S. 2012 corn plantings at 97.172 million acres, above the U.S. Department of Agriculture's current estimate of 96.4 million, trade sources said Friday.

The firm put U.S. 2012 soybean planted acreage at 77.143 million acres, above the USDA's last estimate of 76.1 million.

For 2013, Informa projected that U.S. farmers would plant 97.537 million acres of corn, 79.872 million acres of soybeans and a total of 57.127 million acres of wheat.

Informa officials had no comment on the figures.

RTRS- Brazil's 2012/13 soybean output to rise, China imports to dip-Bunge

MUMBAI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Soybean output from Brazil, a leading producer of the oilseed, is likely to rise by nearly a quarter to 82 million tonnes in 2012/13, said a senior official at Bunge, the world’s biggest soybean processer.

Soybean imports by China, the world’s biggest buyer, are likely to fall to 56 million tonnes in 2012/13 from 59 million tonnes a year ago, Stefan Gierga, managing director at Bunge Handels GmbH, told reporters on Saturday on the sidelines of the Globoil Conference here.

RTRS-Pakistan's 2012 edible oil imports seen flat at 2 mln tonnes-exec

MUMBAI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Pakistan’s edible oil imports in 2012 are seen steady at last year’s level of 2 million tonnes as the country is likely to import more oilseeds for crushing, a senior industry official told reporters on Saturday.

The country is expected to import 1.2 million tonnes of oilseeds, mostly canola, in 2012 against imports of 1 million tonnes a year ago, A Rasheed Janmohammad, vice chairman of the Pakistan Edible Oil Refiners' Association, told journalists on the sidelines of the Globoil Conference.

RTRS- India soymeal exports to Iran may jump 60 pct in '12/13-industry exec

MUMBAI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - India's soymeal exports to Iran could jump 60 percent to 800,000 tonnes in 2012/13 from 2011/12, as demand in the sanctions-hit country is robust and payment through a mechanism using the rupee is working well, India's top soymeal exporter said.

Ruchi Soya RCSY.NS Managing Director Dinesh Shahra also said India's total exports of soymeal, used for animal feed, are likely to rise more than 11 percent to 5 million tonnes in the marketing year starting on Oct. 1.

"Iran will be a big buyer of Indian soymeal even next year. There is good demand," Shahra said on the sidelines of the Globoil Conference.

India is trying to pay for part of its oil imports from Iran, one of its biggest suppliers, in the rupee, which is not freely traded on international markets, as western sanctions aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear programme have cut its payment options.

The south Asian country’s soymeal exports to Iran have surged almost three-fold on the year to 456,133 tonnes for the April-August period, data from the Solvent Extractors' Association of India showed.

India, one of Iran's biggest customers, has won a waiver from U.S. sanctions targeting financial institutions by cutting its oil imports along with Tehran's other major Asian clients China, Japan and South Korea.

But its energy-guzzling economy still relies heavily on Iranian oil. In January, the two sides agreed to settle 45 percent of the billion dollar import bill in rupees, which could then be used by Tehran to pay for imports from India.

Food is exempted from the sanctions on Iran.

Ruchi Soya is likely to export 1.8 million tonnes of soymeal in 2012/13 against 1.5 million tonnes this year as there is likely to be a bigger crop due to farmers planting over a higher acreage, Shahra said.

"This year we crushed 2.1 million tonnes soybean. We are aiming to crush 2.5 million tonnes next year," he said.

Indian farmers usually cultivate soybean from June onwards and supplies from the crop starting arriving in markets from October.

EDIBLE OILS

Despite good production of soybean, the south Asian country’s edible oil imports in the 2012/13 year starting from November are likely to rise 5.1 percent to 10.3 million tonnes due to lower output of groundnut and cotton seeds, he said.

The entire incremental growth in edible oil imports will be met through palm oil as its discount over soyoil has widened to $300 per tonne on the back of higher palm oil inventory in Malaysia and Indonesia.

"Premium of soyoil over palmoil will stay around $250-300 per tonne at least until the end of 2012. Stocks are at record high levels in Malaysia and Indonesia," he said.

Combined stocks in Indonesia and Malaysia at the end of 2012 may stand at 4.5 million tonnes and could pull down palm oil prices to 2,500 ringgit per tonne, he said.

On Friday, benchmark palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed at 2,763 ringgit ($905) per tonne after hitting an 11-month low of 2,755 ringgit earlier in the day.

RTRS- Palm oil faces bearish Q4 on high stocks, slow demand

MUMBAI, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Palm oil prices will fall further this year as slowing economic growth reins in demand for biofuel production, leading to higher stocks at top producers Indonesia and Malaysia, an industry meeting concluded on Sunday.

Any support from India, the world's largest importer of cooking oils, will be curbed in the last quarter as its own farmers start marketing product from the summer harvest.

"Stockpile is building in Indonesia and Malaysia, but there are few buyers right now. Offtake from the biofuel industry is very thin despite offering a big discount over soyoil," said Dinesh Shahra, managing director of Ruchi Soya RCSY.NS, India's top soymeal exporter.

Palm oil stocks in Malaysia could rise to 3 million tonnes at the start of next year from early September levels around 2.1 million tonnes, according to Dorab Mistry, head of edible oil trading with Indian conglomerate Godrej Industries GODI.NS and a leading expert on the industry.

Indonesia and Malaysia's combined palm oil stocks could total 4.5 million tonnes by the end of 2012, Shahra added.

With stocks high and production climbing, the pressure will stay on prices, delegates said, with Malaysian crude palm oil (CPO) potentially falling as low as 2,500 ringgit ($820) per tonne in the last quarter from around 2,760 ringgit now.

Mistry said there was a 50 percent chance CPO futures prices could even drop to 2,300 ringgit in the last quarter as Indonesia makes tax changes to grab market share from Malaysia, which has been pushing tax-free shipments to India.

Falls in crude oil prices could exacerbate the situation as that makes biofuels less attractive as an alternative.

"I am bearish on crude oil prices. They should come down. Demand is slowing due to a slowdown in the global economy," James Fry, chairman of commodities consultancy LMC International, said.

CPO prices could even fall to 2,285 ringgits in the fourth quarter, he said, if Brent crude drops as low as $80 per barrel from current levels around $111.

SOYOIL PREMIUMS TO CURB DEMAND?

Meanwhile, as the major producers continue their drive to reduce stocks, the hefty discount of palm oil to soyoil is likely to continue, delegates said.

"The palm oil discount is big and will probably stay big to avoid burdensome stock building," said Stefan Gierga, managing director at Bunge Handels GmbH trading company.

That differential could cut India's soyoil imports in the marketing year from Nov. 1, 2012 from about 1 million tonnes in the current year, according to Atur Chaturvedi, chief executive of Adani Wilmar, a leading India-based edible oil importer.

But even so, delegates felt India's total cooking oil imports may hit a record around 10 million tonnes in 2012/13 as its bulging population -- adding about 19 million people a year

• along with an increasingly wealthy middle class raise demand.

Soyoil prices themselves could start to wilt as soybean output in South America rebounds after a severe drought last year and the crushing season gets underway in the United States

• with China snapping up the output to make its own soyoil.

"China is aggressively buying new soybean crop of the United States. It is unlikely to raise edible oil imports significantly in the next three months as it will get oil from crushing of soybean," said a dealer with a global commodity trading firm.

Shahra cautioned that things could change if South America's crop was hit by adverse weather.

"I am expecting prices to correct based on stocks. But you don’t know what is in the mind of the weather god. If the weather becomes unfavourable for the soybean crop in South America, like last year, then everything will change. Then prices will rise to record high level," he said.

And it is also possible that the deep discount could favour palm oil and push demand higher, said Thomas Mielke, editor of Hamburg-based Oil World.

"Palm oil is offered at discounts of more than $250 (per tonne) under soybean oil. I think this is not sustainable. We are going to see world import demand to shift to the more effectively priced palm oil," he said in his presentation. ($1 = 3.0505 Malaysian ringgits)

RTRS- Global economy, supply to weigh further on palm oil-Mistry

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Palm oil prices FCPOc3 could drop to 2,600 ringgit-2,700 ringgit ($852-$885) per tonne till the end of this year as weaker global economic growth crimps demand at a time when supply rises at a faster rate, an industry analyst said.

The forecast by Dorab Mistry, head of edible oil trading with Indian conglomerate Godrej Industries GODI.NS, represents up to a near 6 percent drop from current prices as more demand has not kicked in despite palm oil's discount to rival soyoil.

"Demand for palm oil in particular and for vegetable oils in general has been softer than expected in 2012," Mistry said, according to a transcript of a speech to be delivered on Sunday at a regional industry conference in the Indian port city of Mumbai.

"(This is due to) much slower growth in the production of bio fuels from vegetable oil and the difficult economic situation in developing countries, coupled with high prices," he added.

Also, with Indonesia adjusting its export taxes to favour the shipment of refined palm oil cargoes and grabbing market share from Malaysia, Mistry said there was a 50 percent chance futures will drop to 2,300 ringgit in the last quarter of 2012.

Malaysia, the world's second largest palm oil producer after Indonesia, has been pushing shipments under a tax free crude palm oil export scheme to top edible oil buyer India in a bid to reduce swelling stocks and retain business.

"This is the best destination for these palm oil shipments and therefore stocks in India as at the end of October as well as pipelines will be higher than previous years," Mistry said.

But coupled with new harvests of oilseeds in India, Malaysia will export less with stocks continuing to grow in the last quarter of 2012.

Mistry said it would be not be surprising if Malaysia's palm oil stocks rise to 3 million tonnes at the start of next year. September opening inventory levels hover around 2.1 million tonnes, according to government data.

Surging Malaysian stocks come as Indonesia's inventories had been growing since 2010 to 3.5 million-4 million tonnes a month, in part due to rising production and infrastructure bottlenecks, Mistry said.

A high production cycle for palm oil in Southeast Asia that started in June is boosting supply, he said, although it may last till mid-December as mild El Nino weather condition could cut the season short.

El Nino tends to bring drier weather to the region, leading to oil palms producing more male flowers that do not produce the edible oil.

"We need to watch rainfall in September, October and November. If, as some weathermen expect, we have heavy rain in November, the high (production) cycle may be further extended," Mistry said.

The London-based analyst adjusted his forecast for Malaysian crude palm oil production this year to 18 million tonnes from 18.2 million tonnes. Malaysia's government forecasts peg output at 18.4 million tonnes, down 2.6 percent from last year.

Indonesian production is likely to overshoot, with Mistry revising forecasts to 27.5 million tonnes from 27 million tonnes. In contrast, the Agriculture Ministry saw production at 25.7 million tonnes.

RTRS-Palm oil discount to soyoil "unsustainable," to boost demand-Mielke

MUMBAI, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Palm oil prices are "sizeably undervalued" in comparison with soyoil and the discount is unlikely to be sustained as lower prices will prompt importers to buy more palm oil, a top world oils analyst said on Sunday.

"Palm oil is offered at discounts of more than $250 (per tonne) under soybean oil. I think this is not sustainable. We are going to see world import demand to shift to the more effectively priced palm oil," said Thomas Mielke, editor of Hamburg-based newsletter Oil World.

The increased demand will help the world's top two palm oil producers -- Indonesia and Malaysia -- raise exports and trim inventory that has been depressing palm oil prices, Mielke said in his video presentation to the Globoil India conference here.

On Friday, benchmark palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 2 percent to close at 2,763 ringgit ($905) per tonne, after hitting an 11-month low of 2,755 ringgit earlier in the day.

World production of palm oil is likely to rise to a record high of 54.4 million tonnes in 2013 from 51.6 million tonnes estimated for 2012, Mielke added.

Output could rise to 78 million tonnes in 2020 as higher profitability is bringing in additional plantation, he said.

Global output of sunflower oil in the 2012/13 year starting from Oct. 1 is likely to fall by 1.2 million tonnes, and that should give it a price premium over rival soyoil in the second half of the year, Mielke said.

SOYBEAN TO RESUME RALLY

CBOT soybean futures Sc1 hit an all-time high of $17.94-3/4 per bushel this month, but have since fallen nearly 7 percent as farmers in the United States hastened harvesting of their new season crop.

However, that crop is likely to be used up quickly due to higher prices and that will again create tight supplies, allowing prices to resume their rally, Mielke said, without giving any time frame.

"Soybean prices will resume their rally, exceeding $18 a bushel, probably rising to $19 or $20 or above if any problems occur in South America," he said.

Sowing has been progressing in South America, where output was hit by a severe drought last year.

CBOT November soybeans SX2 finished 0.2 percent higher at $16.21-3/4 a bushel on Friday.

RTRS- Malaysia palm oil prices may fall at least 7 pct in Q4-analyst

NEW DELHI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil (CPO) prices may fall nearly 7 percent to 2,575 ringgit per tonne in the last quarter of 2012 from current levels if Brent crude oil prices come down to $95 per barrel, a top analyst said on Saturday.

"I am bearish on crude oil prices. They should come down. Demand is slowing due to a slowdown in the global economy," James Fry, chairman of commodities consultancy LMC International, said at the Globoil India conference here.

"Eventually new supplies (deep sea, tar sands and shale oil) and weak demand growth, led by substitution by natural gas, will pull the market back to earth as oil stocks climb," he added.

Vegetable oil prices benefit from higher crude levels as their use as biofuels, which are seen as greener alternatives to petrol and diesel, becomes more economically attractive.

On Friday, benchmark palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 2 percent to close at 2,763 ringgit ($905) per tonne, after hitting an 11-month low of 2,755 ringgit earlier in the day. Brent crude closed at $111.42 per barrel.

He expects the CPO price in the fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) to be 2,285 ringgits if the crude price is $80 per barrel, more than 17 percent down from the current level, although he sees palm oil recovering to 2,450 ringgits in the first quarter of 2013.

"Crude oil is now the key to vegetable oil prices," Fry said in his presentation slides.

The premium of CPO over petroleum prices has fallen sharply since July due to rising inventories, Fry said.

"Mills must put oil into their tanks every day, regardless of the final demand. This makes them into permanent 'distress sellers' and helps explain why CPO always trades at a discount" (to other edible oils).

The London-based analyst forecast Indonesia’s palm oil output in 2012 could rise by 8.1 percent to 27.25 million tonnes, while Malaysia may see a 3 percent drop in it production to 18.34 million tonnes.

RTRS- India's soaring edible oil demand to push 2012/13 imports to record

MUMBAI, Sept 23 (Reuters) - India’s 2012/13 edible oil imports could rise 4.2 percent to a record high, with palm oil cornering the bulk of that, a Reuters poll showed, as the world's second most populous country fails to raise output quickly enough to meet demand from a growing middle class.

The world's biggest importer of edible oils could buy 10 million tonnes in the year to Oct. 31, 2013, against an estimated 9.6 million tonnes in the current year, the poll of 10 industry experts attending the Globoil India Conference showed.

Higher Indian imports could provide crucial support to palm oil prices, which are flagging compared with rivals like soyoil, weighed down by a build-up in inventory in the top two producing countries -- Indonesia and Malaysia.

"Population and prosperity are the two main drivers of (Indian) demand," said Govindbhai G. Patel, managing partner of GG Patel & Nikhil Research Co.

Indians use vegetable oils to cook most of their famous curries from pav-bhaji to samosa but recycling is common, keeping per capita consumption below global averages.

Increased wealth from an economy targeted to grow at 6.5 percent this year should prompt more purchases of fresh oil while prosperity also boosts consumption of biscuits and sweets made with edible oils.

India's 1.2 billion population is expanding at around 1.6 percent per year - or more than the population of the Netherlands.

The scale of demand is forcing India to fulfil more than half of its requirements through imports.

Despite higher prices, local demand is expected to rise by 3.1 percent in 2012/13 to 17.1 million tonnes. Domestic supplies are likely to increase by 2.5 percent, Patel said.

A sharp drop in the value of the rupee in the past six months has made imports of edible oils expensive and that could prompt price-sensitive India to buy a greater amount of palm oil, which is cheaper by nearly a quarter than soyoil.

"The entire incremental growth in imports will be fulfilled by palm oil," said Dinesh Shahra, managing director of Ruchi Soya RCSY.NS, the country’s top soybean processor.

India could therefore buy 7.8 million tonnes of palm oil in 2012/13, up 12.2 percent from the year earlier, the poll showed.

PALM OIL EATING SOYOIL’S SHARE

Soyoil imports into India, which traditionally buys more than 1 million tonnes a year from the world market, are likely to fall in 2012/13 as it is asking a hefty premium of nearly $300 per tonne over palm oil.

"Prices are not in favour of soyoil imports. It is costly," said Atul Chaturvedi, chief executive of Adani Wilmar, a leading India-based edible oil importer.

Local supplies of soyoil are also set to rise next year due to higher production, industry officials said.

Soyoil, along with sunflower and groundnut oil, are long-standing traditional local products preferred by the middle class, while palm oil is a cheaper option which the government subsidises for poorer Indians. Industrial buyers like biscuit and sweet makers also use palm oil.

India is likely to produce a bumper crop of rapeseed, which contains higher oil than soybean, due to ample rainfall in the top producing north-western Rajasthan state in August and September, said Davish Jain, chief of the Indore-based Prestige Group, a soybean processor.

India’s imports of sunflower oil are expected to jump nearly 50 percent in 2011/12 to 1.2 million tonnes and are likely to remain steady next year, Shahra said.

"Sunflower and soyoil prices are trading at almost the same level. When you offer Indian housewives soyoil and sunflower oil, they will choose sunflower oil," he said.

India imports palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia and soyoil from Brazil and Argentina.

RTRS- India's 2012/13 soyoil imports to fall - Adani Wilmar

MUMBAI, Sept 22 (Reuters) - India's imports of soyoil are likely to come down in the marketing year starting Nov. 1, 2012, as the oil has become more expensive in relation to palm oil, a leading India-based edible oil importer told Reuters on Saturday.

In the year ending Oct. 31, 2012, the world's biggest edible oil importer is likely to buy about 1 million tonnes of soyoil from overseas, Atur Chaturvedi, chief executive of Adani Wilmar, said on the sidelines of the Globoil Conference.

Currently, soyoil is asking about $300 per tonne premium over palm oil -- from around $146 per tonne in May -- deterring buyers from putting in new orders for the contract year starting Nov. 1, 2012.

Crude palm oil imports to India in August averaged $980 per tonne on a delivered basis, according to the Solvent Extractors' Association of India. Soyoil imports averaged $1,276 per tonne.

India imports mostly palm oil, sourced from Indonesia and Malaysia, and small quantities of soyoil from Argentina and Brazil.

Trader's Highlight

DJI- NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed flat on Friday even though investors welcomed Spain's efforts to seek a bailout and cheered Apple's newest iPhone that went on sale today, driving its shares to a record high.

Apple Inc AAPL.O, the world's most valuable public company in terms of market capitalization, jumped to an all-time high of $705.07 as customers lined up to buy the iPhone 5. Apple's stock ended up 0.2 percent at $700.10. [ID:L4E8KL3G1]

News from Spain helped lift stocks after the debt-laden country said it was considering freezing pensions and speeding up a planned rise in the retirement age as it raced to cut spending and meet conditions of an expected international sovereign aid package. (Full Story)

The moves, taken with the European Central Bank's efforts to spur growth in the euro zone and the Fed's recent announcement of a third round of quantitative easing, continued to underpin gains.

"The market is predominantly looking forward to the Federal Reserve and the QE infinity that the Fed promised, and the globally coordinated easing cycle," said Steve Wood, chief market strategist at Russell Investments in New York.

This week, though, the market's action has been muted, with the S&P 500 barely moving 0.6 percent in either direction daily.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI slipped 17.46 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 13,579.47. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX dipped just 0.11 of a point, or 0.01 percent, to finish at 1,460.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC rose 4.00 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 3,179.96.

Earlier, the S&P 500 hit an intraday high of 1,467.07, while the Nasdaq reached a session high of 3,196.93.

A quick and sharp sell-off in spot gold shortly after midday, driven by a rumor that the CME may raise margin requirements on commodities, weighed on financial services stocks, according to Joseph Greco, managing director of Meridian Equity Partners in New York.

Many banks and other companies in the financial sector have high exposure to gold and other commodities, so any increase in margin requirements would affect them, Greco said.

Spot gold XAU= later recovered to trade up 0.6 percent at $1,777.19 an ounce by 1:11 p.m. EDT on Friday, after hitting a session high of $1,787.20 - close to its 2012 high of $1,790.30.

But financial shares were still lower by late afternoon on Friday. The S&P financial index .GSPF ended down 0.3 percent.

The transportation sector limited the market's advance on Friday, when the Dow Jones Transportation Average .DJT fell 1 percent. Earlier this week, two large shipping companies - FedEx Corp. FDX.N and Norfolk Southern Corp. NSC.N - warned about the impact of the weakening world economy on their results.

At the close, FedEx shares slid 0.9 percent to $84.39 and Norfolk Southern shares lost 1.7 percent to $65. On Wednesday, a few brokerage firms cut their price targets on FedEx stock. On Friday, four brokers lowered their price targets on Norfolk Southern's stock.

The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX has gained 5.9 percent since the start of August, mostly on expectations for new economic stimulus measures from the world's central banks. On Sept. 13, the Federal Reserve announced a third round of stimulus or quantitative easing, known as Q3, intended to bolster the economy and reduce U.S. unemployment.

The market was more active than usual because of "quadruple witching," the quarterly settlement and expiration of four different types of September e q uity futures and options contracts. Expiration can lead to greater volume and volatility as players adjust or exercise their derivative positions.

"There was a little bit of a sell-off towards the close, but nothing crazy," said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade. "There is not much volatility because the market has been trading in a pretty tight range most of the day, and it looks like most of the players have already rolled their positions over the last two weeks."

Looking ahead to quarterly earnings, one bright spot came from the fashion front. Shares of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd KORS.N shot up 9.3 percent to close at $57.35. The fashion and accessory designer's company said it will probably earn more than it expected in the second quarter as it banks on strong global sales.

Housing shares climbed, led by KB Home KBH.N, up 16.4 percent at $15.26, after the fifth-largest U.S. homebuilder reported a surprising quarterly profit and said its revenue backlog hit a four-year high. The PHLX housing sector index .HGX surged 1.74 percent. (Full Story)

Oracle Corp ORCL.O gained 0.7 percent to $32.47 a day after the software maker reported first-quarter earnings, excluding items, that met Wall Street's expectations. Oracle's hardware sales, however, are expected to drop further after tumbling 24 percent from a year ago. (Full Story).

Volume totalled 7.92 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the Amex.

Advancers beat decliners on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq by a ratio of 3 to 2. On the NYSE, there were 303 stocks hitting new highs and eight setting new lows. On the Nasdaq, 191 stocks touched new highs while 28 stocks reached new lows.

NYMEX- NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - U.S. November crude futures rose on Friday as delays in North Sea oil loadings stoked supply concerns and optimism over reform measures by Spain in anticipation of a bailout package lifted markets.

 

CBOT SOYBEAN-Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade ended higher after a seesaw trading session, turning higher in the final minutes of trade on position-squaring ahead of the weekend, traders said.

* Market turned lower at times, under pressure from the expanding U.S. soybean harvest and technical selling.

• Despite the late rally, front-month soybeans Sc1 ended the week down nearly 7 percent, the market's biggest weekly plunge in a year, amid long liquidation and anecdotal soy yield reports that were not as bad as feared.

• Informa Economics estimated U.S. 2012 soybean plantings at 77.143 million acres, above USDA's current figure of 76.1 million acres, and projected U.S. 2013 soybean plantings at 79.872 million acres. (Full Story)

• Farmers in Brazil's grain belt jump-started planting after early showers set the scene for what is expected to be a bumper corn and record soy crop, producers and analysts said. (Full Story)

• USDA confirmed sales of 140,000 tonnes of U.S. soymeal to South Korea for delivery in 2012/13. (Full Story)

• India's soymeal exports are expected to rise by 10 percent to 5.5 million tonnes in 2012/13 due to higher soybean output, said Davish Jain, chief of the Indore-based Prestige Group.

 

FCPO- SINGAPORE, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures dropped on Friday to their lowest in more than 11 months, posting their worst week since March last year as rising inventories and overnight losses in U.S. soybeans weighed on prices.

The brisk pace of the U.S. soybean harvest and global economic concerns dragged down palm oil prices, which have already come under pressure due to worries inventory levels in key producer Malaysia could climb above 2.2 million tonnes in September, which would be the highest level seen this year.

"The overseas market was down yesterday and this morning the Dalian market was down, so the futures market is under tremendous pressure on long liquidation and speculative short-selling," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

"Technicals also don't look good as prices broke below 2,800 ringgit with immediate support at 2,754 ringgit."

At the close, the benchmark December contract FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had lost 2 percent to 2,763 ringgit ($905) per tonne, slightly above the intraday low at 2,755 ringgit, a level unseen since Oct. 6.

The prices broke below the 2,800-ringgit mark for the first time this year and posted a 5.9 percent loss this week.

Total traded volume stood at 37,030 lots of 25 tonnes each, much higher than the usual 25,000 tonnes.

Technicals continued to look bearish with Reuters market analyst Wang Tao saying palm oil would keep falling to 2,719 ringgit per tonne based on a wave analysis.

Latest cargo surveyor data pointed to rising exports but traders said the increase was not enough to offset strong production, which could push September stocks even higher than the 10-month high of 2.1 million tonnes seen in August.

Cargo surveyor Intertek Testing said export shipments rose almost 15 percent during Sept. 1-20 over the same period a month ago, while another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported an almost 13 percent increase from a month ago.

In a bullish sign for palm oil, Brent crude rose towards $111 on Friday, extending its gains from a 1-1/2 month low hit in the previous session, as Libya's precarious security situation and lower North Sea production stoked supply fears.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery BOZ2 lost 0.2 percent. The most active January 2013 soyoil contract DBYF3 on the Dalian Commodity Exchange had closed 1.5 percent down.

Chicago Board of Trade November soybeans SX2 edged up, after dropping 3 percent in the previous session.

REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets ended mostly higher on Friday as stimulus measures from major central banks appeared to remain supportive to broad sentiment, prompting market players to buy into recently beaten down market large caps.

Among the bright spots, Jakarta's Composite Index .JKSE gained 0.6 percent, with Indonesia's main vehicle distributor and biggest listed company Astra International ASII.JK rising 2.1 percent after falling 2.7 percent over the last two sessions amid broad profit-taking.

Strength in commodities and banking shares helped lift most other markets in the region. Singapore's Straits Times Index .FTSTI edged up 0.5 percent, led higher by a 0.8 percent rise in commodities firm Golden Agri Resources Ltd GAGR.SI.

Bucking the trend, Malaysia's benchmark index .KLSE eased 0.1 percent. The Malaysian bourse said local institutions sold shares worth a net 110 million ringgit ($35.80 million) while foreign investors bought shares for 123 million ringgit ($40.03 million).

On the week, Malaysia lost 1.2 percent, Southeast Asia's worst performer. Others ended the week mixed, with Indonesia losing 0.3 percent, while Thailand posted a gain of 0.8 percent and Singapore ended up 0.3 percent.