Trader's highlight

DJI - NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell in a broad market selloff Wednesday, led by a sharp drop in Apple shares on worries about slowing demand for its products and weaker-than-expected results from Bank of America that battered the financial sector.

Wednesday's losses were the week's second big sell-off, adding to views the market may be starting the pullback analysts have been speculating about for months. The market has had strong gains since the start of year, yet on Monday, the S&P 500 posted its worst day since Nov. 7 following a sharp drop in gold prices.

"After Monday’s gold selloff spooked U.S. equities, it seems as though the dip buyers are a bit less aggressive, allowing the market to fall a bit more," said Gordon Charlop, a managing director at Rosenblatt Securities in New York.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 138.19 points, or 0.94 percent, at 14,618.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 22.56 points, or 1.43 percent, at 1,552.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index  was down 59.96 points, or 1.84 percent, at 3,204.67.

Oils - NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - Oil prices tumbled for a sixth straight session on Wednesday, with Brent crude falling below $98 per barrel for the first time since July as rising U.S. fuel supplies added to overall concern about global oil demand.

A report from the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration showed an unexpected fall in U.S. crude inventories. But EIA reported increases in distillate inventories and gasoline supplies on the U.S. East Coast, which includes the New York harbor.

"The report is mildly bullish, but it’s not going to matter. It’s going to be overshadowed by everything else that’s going on right now," said Mark Waggoner, president at Excel Futures in Oregon.

"The U.S. has lots of crude oil. The lack of demand out of China is also going to weigh quite heavily."

Brent crude, U.S. crude and U.S. gasoline were down around 2 percent, with U.S. heating oil approaching a 2.5 percent fall. U.S. crude and Brent crude were each off more than $2 per barrel at the lows of the day.

Stephen Schork, the editor of The Schork Report, said a key technical support for Brent was broken at $97.91. "Once we hit that level, it probably triggered a bunch of selling," said Schork.

CBOT Soybean - Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on Wednesday with nearby contracts leading gains on firm cash markets and tight U.S. supplies, traders said.

 

·         Soymeal posted the biggest percentage gains in the soy    complex, with some traders citing rumors of U.S. export   business.

 

·         The May soybean and soymeal contracts each  reached their highest levels since March 28. The May soybean   contract broke through its 100-day moving average near $14.25     but settled below that level.

 

·         Soy gains pared late as global growth concerns and   disappointing earnings reports took a heavy toll on world equity    markets and commodities. 

 

·         Trade expects USDA's weekly export sales report on   Thursday to show U.S. soybean sales at 100,000 to 500,000 tonnes   for 2012/13 and 50,000 to 500,000 tonnes for 2013/14.

 

·         The World Health Organization said a number of people who   have tested positive for a new strain of bird flu in China    appear to have had no contact with poultry, adding to the  mystery about a virus that has killed 17 people to date.

 

·         Brazil's vegetable oils association Abiove trimmed its   forecast for a record soybean crop to 82.1 million tonnes, below its 82.3 million tonne forecast in March. 

BMD CPO - SINGAPORE, April 17 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell to a 4-month low on Wednesday, as investors refrained from taking risky positions after this week's rout in commodities and ahead of export data.

Risky assets such as gold and crude oil rebounded slightly from massive sell-offs this week, but the price outlook remained volatile as concerns lingered over slowing global growth. 

Palm oil traders are now waiting for further export numbers as stocks of the edible oil could ease further on higher shipments and weak production. Inventory levels fell to 2.17 million tonnes in March, the lowest in seven months.

"Uncertainty still weighs on the market, it looks like it will be this way at least for the week," said a trader with a domestic commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

The benchmark July contract  on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 1.1 percent to close at 2,276 ringgit ($760) per tonne. Prices fell as low as 2,269 ringgit, a level last seen on Dec. 14.

Total traded volumes stood at 38,934 lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly higher than the average 35,000 lots seen so far this year.

Market participant will be hoping for some improvement in Malaysian palm oil exports for the first 20 days of the month. Shipments for the first half of April dropped 4 percent from a month ago, according to cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported a steeper 7-percent fall.

In other markets, Brent crude slid towards $99 per barrel on Wednesday, weighed down by the prospect of sluggish fuel demand in top consumers the United States and China and rising stockpiles of U.S. crude.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for May delivery fell 0.2 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange gained 0.6 percent.

Regional Equities - BANGKOK, April 17 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stocks gained on Wednesday with Malaysia and Indonesia hitting a new high on strong earnings, but Thai stocks underperformed due to selling in energy shares.

Kuala Lumpur's Composite Index rose 0.6 percent to close at a record high of 1,710.97. Jakarta's Composite Index extended its gain for a second session, climbing 1.1 percent to 4,998.65, above a record 4,981.46 set on April 3.

Shares in power utility Tenaga Nasional Bhd, the most actively traded on Malaysian bourse, jumped 3.9 percent ahead of its results due on Thursday.

Indonesia's telecom provider PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia  rose as much as 6.4 percent after its mobile unit posted strong quarterly results.

In Singapore, shares of Singapore Exchange Ltd outperformed the broader market , climbing 1.2 percent after it posted its largest quarterly profit since the 2008 financial crisis.

Thai SET index fell 0.4 percent to 1,521.53. Energy shares dropped 1.4 percent as falling global oil prices concerned investors of possible weak earnings for April-June quarter, a strategist at Tisco Securities said.