Trader's highlight

DJI - NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended flat on Wednesday with Boeing's five-year high among the day's highlights, but weakness in Procter & Gamble and AT&T kept the Dow in negative territory.

Materials and energy stocks led the S&P 500's gains as copper and oil prices bounced back from recent declines. Commodity gains were capped by worries about the outlook for global economic growth.

A sharp drop in U.S. durable goods orders last month added to that concern, putting a lid on equity gains.

"The flow of news doesn't fully justify the optimism that investors want to bring to the market," said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, Ohio.

"In this environment, it is hard to justify paying this kind of premium for stocks, and it is hard to see the catalyst for strong growth."

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 43.16 points or 0.29 percent, to end at 14,676.30. But the S&P 500  eked out a gain of a mere 0.01 of a point or 0 percent to finish at 1,578.79. And the Nasdaq Composite  added just 0.32 of a point or 0.01 percent to close at 3,269.65.

Oils - NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday, led by gains of 2.5 percent in U.S. crude on a surprisingly big drop in weekly gasoline stockpiles and speculation that the glut of crude at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub could soon ease.

Weekly data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed that inventories at Cushing rose by only 35,000 barrels last week, below what some market players had expected. Still, overall crude stockpiles in the Midwest climbed to a record.

Additional support came from a steep 3.9-million-barrel drop in gasoline inventories last week as refinery output unexpectedly dipped.

"The report is supportive to prices due to the large decline in gasoline inventories," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

U.S. crude  gained $2.25 to settle at $91.43 a barrel. Brent settled $1.42 higher at $101.73 a barrel.

Some traders linked the bigger rally in the U.S. market to a report from industry group Genscape late on Tuesday that showed BP increasing oil flow from Cushing into its Whiting, Indiana refinery, a sign that new units at the plant would restart soon.

Oil traders have been closely watching for the restart of the refinery, which is being upgraded to take more heavy crude from Canada and will drain supplies that have been weighing on U.S. futures.

Brent's premium to U.S. crude futures narrowed at one point on Wednesday to $10.24, the lowest since June, and has largely traded between $10 and $12 for the past three weeks.

"This is called equilibrium," said Tim Evans, energy futures specialist at Citi Futures Perspective.

Brent prices have tumbled nearly 8 percent and U.S. crude more than 6 percent since the beginning of April, reaching low prices attractive to buyers.

CBOT Soybean - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures closed lower on Wednesday on long-liquidation ahead of expected movement soon of soy from South America's big harvest, traders said. 

·         The lower prices came despite tight U.S. soy stocks, slow farmer selling and strong cash markets.

·         Soybean spot cash basis bids soared as much as 27 cents  per bushel around the U.S. Midwest, with bids rising to the  highest levels ever for this time of year at most processors and   elevators, dealers said. 

·         Crop forecaster Lanworth said it had raised its outlook for 2013/14 U.S. corn and soybean production due to recent rains  that boosted yield expectations. 

·         Rain and cold temperatures continued to slow U.S. corn seeding at mid-week, but there are prospects for improved   planting weather by early next week, said Andy Karst,   meteorologist for World Weather Inc.

·         Temperatures are expected to reach the lower 70s F by  early next week, he said. "It will turn drier and warmer,  definitely some improvement early in the week, but there is     another cold front that may come into the Midwest by mid-week."

·         Estimates ahead of the release at 7:30 a.m. CDT (1230 GMT)   on Thursday of USDA's weekly export sales report totaled 250,000  to 350,000 tonnes of old-crop (2012/13) U.S. soybeans and 450,000 to 600,000 tonnes of new-crop (2013/14).

·         Canadian wheat plantings may rise more than expected over  last year, while farmers intend to sow less canola than the   trade was anticipating, according to Statistics Canada's first   report of 2013 on planting intentions. 

·         Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Wednesday as buying  interest surged after earlier losses. Sentiment was also  underpinned by hopes that near-stagnant output from the world's  No. 2 producer would help ease inventories. 

·         May is below all key moving averages, with key resistance  seen at its 100-day moving average of $14.27 per bushel. The   nine-day relative strength index is at 45.

BMD CPO - KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Wednesday as buying interest surged after earlier losses, while hopes that near-stagnant output from the world's No.2 producer would help ease inventories also underpinned sentiment.

But bleak economic data that stoked concerns about a slowdown in global demand for commodities kept a lid on gains.

"There hasn't been any new developments in the market so it is drifting sideways these days. Overall there is pressure from the macro side -- energy markets are under pressure, and you have China and German data not looking too good," said a trader with foreign a commodities brokerage in Malaysia.

Growth in Chinese factories slowed to a crawl as export demand dwindled, according to HSBC's flash PMI readings, while Germany, the euro zone's largest economy, saw business activity slip for the first time in five months.

"Things are friendly for palm itself," the trader added. "April's exports will likely be around 1.5 million tonnes. We are looking at a 2-3 percent rise in production, which would probably drop April's end-stocks to a 1.9 million tonne level."

Stocks stood at 2.17 million tonnes in March.

The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange edged up 0.8 percent to close at 2,290 ringgit ($751) per tonne.

It traded between 2,260 and 2,304 ringgit. Total traded volumes stood at 24,635 lots of 25 tonnes each, lower than the average 35,000 lots.

Poor economic data from China, palm's second largest buyer, may cap gains in crude palm oil prices, analysts said.

"With the latest HSBC Purchasing Manager's Index for March ... worse than the median expectation, concerns have been growing with regards to the sustainability of Chinese growth," Phillip Futures said in a note on Wednesday.

Cargo surveyor data for the first 20 days of April showed that China has imported less palm products from Malaysia compared with the same period last month. Export data for April 1-25 will be released on Thursday.

But near-stagnant production should help offset lower export demand and ease inventory level to below the 2 million tonne mark.

In other markets, Brent crude rose above $101 a barrel, drawing support from strong equity markets, but gains were capped by the gloomy economic data.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for July delivery  gained 0.3 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange slipped 1.3 percent.