DJI- NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 ended flat on Monday after a late-day bounce, as worries about slower global growth hitting corporate sales were offset by earnings that beat expectations.
Technology shares led the day's gains and pushed the Nasdaq up 0.4 percent, as shares of Apple Inc AAPL.O jumped 4 percent to $634.03. Apple is scheduled to report results on Thursday.
The S&P 500 closed on Monday just below its 50-day moving average of 1,434 - seen as a strong support level - after trading well below it for much of the session.
Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar CAT.N became the latest to exceed expectations on the bottom line - or profit - but fall short of revenue forecasts on the top line. The stock fell early, but the Dow component ended up 1.5 percent at $85.08.
Caterpillar also slashed its 2012 forecast for the second time this year due to slowing global demand.
Earnings have generally been beating lowered expectations, but revenues are weak and profit warnings remain frequent.
"The issue with the earnings reports is the outlooks for next year and next quarter are maybe a little worse than people expected," said Bryant Evans, investment advisor and portfolio manager at Cozad Asset Management, in Champaign, Illinois.
Of the 123 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, 60.2 percent have topped analysts' expectations for earnings, but 61 percent have missed revenue forecasts, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Third-quarter earnings are expected to fall 2.4 percent from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 2.38 points, or 0.02 percent, to close at 13,345.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX inched up just 0.63 of a point, or 0.04 percent, to 1,433.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC rose 11.33 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 3,016.96.
After the bell, shares of Yahoo YHOO.O gained 4.2 percent to $16.43 after the Internet company's quarterly earnings beat expectations and its chief executive officer said it is economically attractive to repurchase the stock at current price levels. Yahoo's stock ended regular trading at $15.77, down 0.4 percent.
During the regular session, shares of mining company Freeport-McMoRan FCX.N lost 1.5 percent to $40.58 after it said third-quarter profit fell sharply, missing Wall Street's estimates, because of a big drop in gold production in Indonesia.
On the up side was coal miner Peabody Energy Corp BTU.N. Its stock surged 11.8 percent to $28.95 after the company reported a third-quarter profit that beat analysts' expectations as improved U.S. margins and higher Australian sales volumes offset price declines.
Volume was roughly 5.8 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, compared with the year-to-date average daily closing volume of 6.52 billion.
NYMEX- NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures ended lower on Monday as the November contract expired, with concerns about a slowing global economy and an expected pipeline restart pressuring prices and offsetting supportive worries about Middle East turmoil and the potential threat to the region's oil supply.
CBOT SOYBEAN- Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade rose to a one-week high, buoyed by a firm cash market and reminders of the strong pace of U.S. soy exports, traders said.
* USDA reported export inspections of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 61.422 million bushels, well above trade expectations for 46 million to 49 million.
• The spot November soybean contract SX2 settled above its 20-day moving average at $15.44-3/4, a bullish sign, but it encountered resistance at the 100-day average near $15.60.
• Soymeal followed soybeans higher, also supported by strength in the cash market, while soyoil posted only slight gains.
• Cash soybean markets were steady to mixed in the U.S. Midwest interior on Monday but values had a firm tone as the harvest wound down and producer selling remained slow, traders said. Analysts expected USDA later on Monday to report the U.S. soybean harvest as 82 percent complete, up from 71 percent by Oct. 14.
• Expectations of a large South American soy harvest capped gains. Brazilian analyst Safras e Mercado raised its forecast of Brazil's 2012/13 soybean crop to a record 82.5 million tonnes, from its July estimate of 82.3 million, as farmers planted more than expected.
• Showers are forecast for Brazil's southern soy belt in coming days while the center-west will continue to receive below-average rainfall, local forecaster Somar said. The moisture could cause short-term planting delays but add beneficial soil moisture going forward.
• CBOT November options expire on Friday.
FCPO- SINGAPORE, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose to their highest in more than three weeks on Monday, boosted by rising exports which investors said may help ease record stocks in the world's No.2 palm oil producer.
Latest data from cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance showed Malaysia's palm exports rose 16.7 percent for the first twenty days of October from a month ago, lending support to futures that have lost almost one-fifth so far this year.
Another cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services reported on Saturday a 14.1 percent increase in exports to 1.06 million tonnes for the same period, signalling buoyant demand for the tropical oil.
"The export numbers improved market sentiment. It's good to see positive signs after seeing so many negative signs lately," said a Singapore-based trader with a global commodities house.
"Prices are very likely to go to the 2,700-2,800 ringgit range but there may be dips in between."
At the close, the benchmark January contract FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 3 percent to 2,577 ringgit ($845) per tonne, just off an intraday high at 2,580 ringgit, a level unseen since Sept. 28.
Total traded volumes stood at 37,259 lots of 25 tonnes each, much higher than the usual 25,000 lots.
Palm oil prices fell to a near 3-year low earlier this month on fears over rising stocks and concerns that a sluggish global economic growth could hurt commodity demand.
But traders said low prices could lure buyers back to the market and also make the tropical oil an attractive choice to be used as biodiesel.
In related markets, Brent crude oil steadied above $110 per barrel on Monday as fighting in Beirut and Gaza raised fears for the security of fuel supplies from the Middle East, helping stem a four-day decline in prices.
In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery BOZ2 increase 1.1 percent in late Asian trade, drawing support from the Chicago soybeans market, which bounced back from a three-and-half month low last week.
The most-active May 2013 soybean oil contract DBYcv1 on the Dalian Commodity Exchange also closed 0.4 percent higher.
REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Indonesian stocks posted modest gains on Monday while most other Southeast Asian stocks regained some lost ground as investors hunted for bargains in index heavyweights such as Perusahaan Gas Negara PGAS.JK ahead of earnings releases.
Jakarta's Composite Index .JKSE pared early losses to close near its day's high of 4,341.827, with energy stock Perusahaan Gas up 3 percent.
Macquarie Equities Research included Perusahaan Gas among stocks in Asia expected to report positive earnings surprises in this earnings season, it said in a report dated Oct. 19.
Bangkok's SET index .SETI rebounded from an earlier drop to end up 0.2 percent as investors picked stocks seen laggard. Among the actively traded companies, top industrial conglomerate Siam Cement SCC.BK gained 1.7 percent.
The Thai stock market will be closed on Tuesday for a public holiday.
Stocks in Singapore .FTSTI, Malaysia .KLSE, the Philippines .PSI and Vietnam .VNI bounced off their day's lows after earlier taking a lead from weak global markets.
