Trader's Highlight

DJI- NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended flat to slightly lower on Tuesday after bellwether FedEx cut its profit forecast and investors pulled back after last week's rally on central bank stimulus.

Falling oil prices weighed on the market for a second day, with the S&P 500 energy index, down 0.7 percent, the day's biggest decliner among the S&P's sectors.

The Standard & Poor's 500 remains up 5.3 percent since the end of July. The benchmark index reached levels not seen in nearly five years last Friday, a day after the Federal Reserve's unveiling of its plan to undertake a third round of stimulus. The Fed's announcement followed the European Central Bank's statement that it would buy bonds to support struggling euro- zone economies.

"We've gotten to the point where price momentum was such the market averages were overextended at the end of last week," said

Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Now we have this quiet period."

Shares of FedEx Corp fell 3.1 percent to $86.55. The Dow Jones transportation average lost 1.1 percent. FedEx cut its profit forecast for its fiscal year 2013, saying that a weakening world economy had prompted customers to shift toward lower-priced shipping.

Estimates for the third-quarter S&P 500 companies' profits have fallen sharply in recent months, and earnings now are expected to decline 2.2 percent from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data. It would be the first such decline in three years.

Apple Inc, which broke sales records with its new smartphone, provided some support to the market. Apple's stock set another all-time high at $702.33 before ending at $701.91, up 0.3 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 11.54 points, or 0.09 percent, to end at 13,564.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 1.87 points, or 0.13 percent, to finish at 1,459.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 0.87 of a point, or 0.03 percent, to end at 3,177.80.

Weighing on the tech sector were shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc, which tumbled 9.7 percent to $3.62 a day after the company said its chief financial officer was leaving the struggling personal computer chipmaker. The PHLX semiconductor index lost 0.4 percent.

Economic data, however, offered a fresh sign of momentum for the housing market. U.S. homebuilder sentiment rose for the fifth month in a row in September to its highest level in over six years, the National Association of Home Builders said.

The PHLX housing sector index, however, was down 0.8 percent.

Aside from more economic reports on housing this week, investors will get readings on manufacturing. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's survey of activity in the mid-Atlantic region, as well as the Markit manufacturing purchasing manager's index for September, are due on Thursday.

Data on Monday showed factory activity in New York state fell to its lowest level in nearly 3-1/2 years.

Volume was lower than average for a second straight day, with roughly 5.9 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the Amex, compared with the year-to-date average daily closing volume of 6.5 billion. Many participants were out Monday and Tuesday for the observance of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.

Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by about 17 to 13, while on the Nasdaq, about 13 stocks fell for every 12 that rose.

NYMEX- NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures fell for a second straight session on Tuesday, pressured by concerns about sputtering economic growth and indications that OPEC's top producer Saudi Arabia is working to drive down prices.

CBOT SOYBEAN-Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell for a third day on seasonal pressure from the expanding U.S. harvest along with fund-driven long liquidation, traders said.

* Nearby soybean contracts lost ground to deferreds on spreads due in part to investors rolling long positions in spot November soybeans forward.

• Soymeal posted the biggest percentage declines in the soy complex and lost ground to soyoil as traders unwound meal/oil spreads.
• Cash basis values for soybeans and soymeal softened in the U.S. Midwest interior as the harvest began to gain traction. 
• A Reuters survey of 14 analysts projected the U.S. soybean yield at 35.85 bushels per acre, above USDA's Sept. 12 forecast of 35.3 bushels. 
• Soybean prices could reach a new record of more than $18 a bushel this year as the U.S. harvest will not be large enough to meet global demand leading up to the new South American harvests in early 2013 - analysts Oil World.
• Brazil’s 2013 soybean crop is forecast by Oil World to rise to 82.0 million tonnes, from 66.4 million tonnes in early 2012, while Argentina’s is seen rising to 56.0 million tonnes, from 40.5 million.
• CBOT October options expire on Friday.

FCPO- KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures fell to a one-month low on Tuesday, tracking losses in soybean futures, which had posted their biggest daily drop in a year on a better-than-expected harvest in the U.S. Midwest.

Palm oil futures lost as much as 5.3 percent after resuming trading following a holiday break, as signs of better soybean yields in the U.S. Midwest and favourable crop weather in Brazil brightened global oilseed supply prospects.

"It's purely because of the grains complex. People are cashing out on the weather, so that triggered a lot of short orders, especially on the U.S. side," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage.

"The palm oil market is under tremendous pressure."

The benchmark December 2012 contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slid 125 ringgit to close at 2,861 ringgit ($936), off an earlier low of 2,827 ringgit, a level last seen on Aug. 15.

Total traded volume stood at 57,092 lots of 25 tonnes each, much higher than the usual 25,000 tonnes, as traders hedged positions and booked profits.

Resilient demand for the edible oil failed to turned the market around. Exports for the first half of September rose 12 percent from a month ago, cargo surveyer data showed.

Technicals were bearish as palm oil will fall to 2,573 ringgit per tonne over the next four weeks, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said based on a wave analysis. 

Brent crude, which fell more than $5 a barrel late Monday in a wave of late, high-volume selling, also dragged down palm oil prices, analysts said.

"I think this is in line with the global commodities sell-off," said Kenanga Investment's analyst Alan Lim Seong Chun.

"Because crude oil is the most representative of all the major assets in the commodities, I think sentiment for palm oil is very negative because of crude oil," he added.

Oil slipped to around $113 a barrel on Tuesday, extending the previous session's steep slide, on concerns about slowing global growth and signs that Saudi Arabia is pumping at high rates to dampen prices. 

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery fell 0.4 percent by 1004 GMT. The most active January 2013 soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 2.8 percent lower after hitting a near 1-month low.

REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets retreated on Tuesday, mirroring concerns about slowing global growth and the debt problems in Europe, with large caps and commodities leading the way.

Jakarta's Composite Index fell 0.7 percent, snapping a two-day rally inspired by the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus. Thailand's SET index dipped 0.4 percent after a combined 1.6 percent gain on Monday and Friday.

Investors booked profits on recent gainers such as financials and commodities. Among the top actively traded stocks were Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production and Indonesia's Bumi Resources each fell over 2 percent.

RTRS- Ship damages Santos port grain elevator in Brazil

SAO PAULO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - A ship loading soybeans for China at Brazil's Santos port hit and damaged a grain elevator component that loads soy and corn into holds, shutting down the public grains terminal over the weekend, logistics agents SC Commodities said on Monday.

The accident was being investigated and it yet unclear what caused it.

Santos has four other dry bulk terminals that can handle the movement of grains until berth No. 38 is fixed. Brazil exported most of its soybean crop earlier this year, however, and the new crop will not be ready to harvest until January.

The so-called shiploader, which carries dry bulk commodities such as soy from terminal warehouses on a system of conveyor belts and drops them into the holds of ships, is part of berth No. 38 on the public grains terminal of the port.

Brazil is expected to export a record amount of corn this year, but the port should have sufficient loading capacity to handle the shipments. Brazil exported 2.7 million tonnes of corn in August, not all of it from Santos.

A representative of the port of Santos was not immediately available for comment.

Earlier in 2012, the TGG grains terminal at Santos had one of its four shiploaders ripped from the pier by a ship, interrupting the loading of soy and corn for weeks.

RTRS-Dalian soymeal racks up biggest 1-day drop since 2009

BEIJING, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Dalian soymeal futures 0#DSM: fell around 4 percent on Monday, in their biggest single-day drop since 2009, following weakening prices on the Chicago Board of Trade 0#S:, pressured by the rapidly advancing U.S. harvest.

The switch of speculative funds from agriculture futures to metals was also a factor behind the fall, analysts said.

The most-traded January 2013 contract DSMcv1 fell 4.19 percent to close at 4,083 yuan ($650) per tonne, the biggest one-day drop since August 17, 2009. Soymeal DSMcv1 was traded at an all-time record of 4,369 yuan per tonne last week.

The market expects that falling Chicago prices will spur China, the world's top soy buyer, to increase imports of soy, the raw material from which feed ingredient soymeal is made.

"Chinese crushers have not bought enough and they will step up purchases as soon as Chicago prices fall low enough," said one industry analyst, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

But the price fall was expected to be short-lived and domestic meal prices will be supported by the tight supply of soybeans in largest exporter the United States, where the worst drought in more than 50 years will reduce supplies to China.

"The U.S. soy harvest will be lower anyway, and supply will be tight before the South American harvest reaches the market early next year," said Wang Ping, an analyst with Dong Wu Futures.

Market expectations are for China's own harvest to be reduced by about a fifth this year to about 11 million tonnes, said Liang Yong, an analyst with Galaxy Futures based in Heilongjiang, the country's top soy area. The lower domestic output is because of a cut in soy acreage farmers made early in the year.

Beijing also plans to sell 400,000 tonnes of domestic soy from state reserves on Sept 27 to help boost supplies. The government has sold 3.04 million tonnes since 2010. 

($1=6.3145 yuan)

RTRS- Forward sales of Brazil soy advance, planting window opens

SAO PAULO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Forward sales of soybeans in Brazil, the world's second largest producer, advanced one percentage point last week, local analyst Celeres said on Monday, as farmers awaited sufficient rainfall to plant what could be a record crop.

The restricted 90-day window in which producers cannot legally sow soy to prevent the spread of Asian rust fungus, ended on Sept. 15 in the biggest soy state, Mato Grosso.

Forward sales rose to 46 percent of expected output from 45 percent the previous week, Celeres said in a weekly report. Farmers have sought to lock in high prices since the U.S. drought spurred global supply fears. Much less of the new crop - 21 percent - had been sold a year earlier.

Producers have sold 98 percent of the 65-million-tonne 2011/2012 crop that ended harvest in May, unchanged from a week earlier and above the 89 percent sold by this time last year, Minas Gerais-based Celeres said.

Stocks were depleted after drought in Brazil's soy belt this year, but Celeres expects a record 78.1 million tonnes for the 2012/2013 crop from Brazil, due partly to forecasts of steadier and earlier rainfall.

Local media reported isolated rainfall in Mato Grosso on Monday, which could encourage farmers after a three-month dry stretch during the southern hemisphere's winter.

November soybean futures SX2 fell to $16.69 per bushel in Chicago on Monday, helped by rain forecasts in South America and anecdotal reports that the U.S. harvest would not be as bad as some had feared.

Local meteorologist Somar has cautioned that steady showers needed to allow plants to germinate may come later than initially thought, however.

That would not necessarily affect overall output but would result in a later harvest in a year in which Brazilian production is needed to make up for drought losses in the top-producing United States.

RTRS- India's Aug refined palm oil imports drop 29.4 pct

NEW DELHI, Sept 14 (Reuters) - India's refined palm oil imports dropped about a third in August, marking a third successive monthly fall, as the world's top vegetable oil buyer increased its import duty to cut cheap supplies from top producer Indonesia, a trade body said.

Imports of refined palm oil fell to 79,486 tonnes from 112,611 tonnes in July, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said in a statement on Friday, slightly lower than the average of a Reuters poll.

Purchases of refined palm oil have been falling since June due to expectations that India would raise its import duty to protect local processors who repeatedly petitioned the government for an increase in the levy.

Conceding to processors' demand, the government raised the import duty from Aug. 1.

"The duty hike will check excessive refined palmolein imports in coming months," said B.V. Mehta, executive director of the SEA.

Refined palm oil imports surged about 72 percent to 1.4 million tonnes in the first ten months of the season beginning November after Indonesia changed its export tax structure in October 2011 to support its own refining industry.

India imports mainly palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia. It also imports a small quantity of soyoil from Brazil and Argentina.

Total palm oil imports rose about 15 percent to 702,611 tonnes but soyoil purchases fell 29.3 percent to 110,758 tonnes. Sunflower oil imports dropped by about 14 percent to 68,900 tonnes in August.

Total vegetable oil imports, including small amounts of non-edible oils, rose 3.1 percent to 897,018 tonnes from July.

RTRS- Malaysia sees little El Nino risk so far to palm oil

PARIS, Sept 14 (Reuters) - There has been no sign of extreme weather in Malaysia linked to the El Nino phenomenon that could affect palm oil output in the world's second-largest producer of the edible oil, government and industry officials from the country said on Friday.

Forecasters have said that the El Nino weather pattern, which involves a warming of surface temperatures in parts of the Pacific Ocean that can trigger drought in southeast Asia and Australia, has re-emerged and could last several months.

"It's already September and I haven't seen too much of it myself," Malaysian Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok told a news conference in Paris, referring to El Nino. "Sometimes these predictions are not as disastrous as they sound."

Palm oil producing regions have seen rainfall in recent weeks, Lee Yeow Chor, chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, an industry lobby, told the news conference.

The last severe El Nino in 1998 killed more than 2,000 people and caused billions of dollars in damage to crops, infrastructure and mines in Australia and other parts of Asia.

Malaysian officials reiterated a forecast for palm oil production of 18.4 million tonnes this year, down from 18.9 million tonnes in 2011.

Labour shortages on plantations had contributed to the expected drop in output, they said.

The production fall is set to widen the gap with top producer Indonesia, which is also challenging Malaysian palm oil exports through tax changes.

The Malaysian government was still considering how to help its industry compete against Indonesian exports, Dompok said, declining to say what measures would be proposed and when.

Protecting the interests of small growers would be a key concern in the government's response, he added.

Malaysia has already increased its quota of tax-free palm oil exports for this year to 5 million tonnes from 3 million in a move partly seen as a reaction to Indonesia's policy.

Trader's Highlight

DJI- NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Monday in light trading after a rally that drove the S&P 500 last week to its highest level in nearly five years and as falling oil prices hit energy shares.

The decline broke a four-day streak of gains for the S&P 500. On Friday, both the Dow and the S&P 500 ended at highs not seen since December 2007. The rally came a day after the Federal Reserve unveiled new stimulus measures that could keep equities buoyed for months. The Fed's action followed a decision by the European Central Bank to support debt-ridden euro-zone nations by purchasing their debt.

Equities' move is mainly consolidation following last week's big move higher, said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Asset Management in Boston.

"I think the signal that the Fed gave last week is likely to have a lasting effect, and carry through to the end of the year," he said.

Financials, which were among the biggest gainers late last week, were among the sectors leading Monday's decline. The S&P financial index fell 1.1 percent. Bank of America Corp shares lost 2.6 percent to $9.30.

An S&P index of energy shares fell 0.8 percent, slipping in sync with oil prices, which tumbled sharply in afternoon trading. Exxon Mobil shed 0.4 percent to percent to $91.91.

The market's losses were limited by Apple Inc, which hit another all-time session high of $699.80 with demand for its new iPhone 5 exceeding initial supply. The company booked 2 million orders in one day and pushed the delivery date for some pre-orders to next month. The stock rose above $700 after the bell; it closed at $699.78, up 1.2 percent.

Volume was lower than average, with about 5.64 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the Amex, compared with the year-to-date average daily closing volume of 6.54 billion. Many participants were out on Monday for the observance of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 40.27 points, or 0.30 percent, to end at 13,553.10. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 4.58 points, or 0.31 percent, to 1,461.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 5.28 points, or 0.17 percent, to close at 3,178.67.

After the bell, shares of Advanced Micro Devices slid 12.7 percent to $3.50 after the company said its chief financial officer was leaving to pursue other opportunities. The stock closed the regular session at $4.01, up 2.8 percent.

The day's economic data offered more evidence of weakness in the economy. Factory activity in New York state contracted for a second month in a row in September, with the Empire State "business conditions" index falling to its lowest level in nearly 3-1/2 years, according to a report on Monday from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. A national manufacturing survey by an industry group earlier this month showed the sector contracted for a third month in August.

Gold and other commodities also fell for the day, and the S&P 500 materials index slid 1.5 percent, leading the S&P 500's decline. JP Morgan cut its ratings on a number of metals companies, including AK Steel, which dropped 5.8 percent to $5.53.

Investors also focused on turmoil overseas. Protesters in Afghanistan and Indonesia burnt U.S. flags and chanted "Death to America" on Monday in renewed demonstrations over a film mocking the Prophet Mohammad.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran would reach the brink of being able to build a nuclear bomb in just six or seven months.

Major Japanese companies, including Nissan and Honda, announced factory shutdowns in China on Monday and Japanese expatriates were urged to stay indoors ahead of what could be more angry protests over a territorial dispute between Asia's two biggest economies.

The day's deal news included Lowe's Cos Inc saying it had withdrawn its C$1.8 billion ($1.86 billion) proposal to buy Rona Inc in the face of stiff opposition to the unsolicited bid for the Canadian home improvement retailer. Lowe's shares slipped 0.6 percent to $29.23.

General Electric Co shares shed 0.3 percent to $22.05 after sources familiar with the matter said the company has hired Morgan Stanley to review its 33 percent stake in Thailand's Bank of Ayudhya Pcl, which could potentially lead to a sale by the U.S. conglomerate of its near $2.2 billion holding.

Decliners outpaced advancers on the NYSE by nearly 2 to 1 and on the Nasdaq by about 5 to 3.

NYMEX- NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures settled lower on Monday after recovering from losses suffered during a high-volume, rapid selloff that pushed crude briefly below its 200-day moving average intraday and followed last week's price surge on the Federal Reserve's launch of a stimulus program to bolster the economy.

  

CBOT SOYBEAN-  Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade plunged the 70-cent single-day limit on Monday, hit by U.S. harvest pressure and talk of better-than-expected early yields, along with technical selling including fund-driven long liquidation,traders said.

* Additional pressure from ideas that rains this month in northern Brazil could allow farmers an early start planting soybeans for their 2013 harvest.

• Spot soybean futures fell 4 percent, their biggest daily decline in 18 months, to a near one-month low.
• Local media reported isolated rainfall Monday in Mato Grosso, Brazil's biggest soy state, which could encourage farmers after a three-month dry stretch during the southern hemisphere's winter. Farmers in Mato Grosso were allowed to start planting Sept. 15.
• Analysts expected USDA's weekly crop progress report due later on Monday to show the U.S. soybean harvest as 9 percent complete, up from 4 percent a week earlier.
• China's government plans to sell 400,000 tonnes of domestic soy from state reserves on Sept 27 to help boost supplies.
• USDA confirmed sales of 210,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to unknown destinations for delivery in 2012/13.
• USDA reported export inspections of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 9.959 million bushels, below a range of trade estimates for 14 million to 18 million.
• A ship loading soybeans for China at Brazil's Santos port hit and damaged a grain elevator component that loads soy and corn into holds, shutting down the public grains terminal over the weekend, said logistics agent SC Commodities.
• Daily trading limits in CBOT soybeans for Tuesday's trade will widen to $1.05 per bushel while CBOT soymeal limits will widen to $30 a ton, after Monday's limit drop - CME Group.

  

FCPO- KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Friday after the U.S. Federal Reserve kicked off a third round of quantitative easing to stimulate its economy and as investors took up positions ahead of a long weekend.

The Fed said it will buy $40 billion of mortgage-backed debt each month in the world's largest economy, lifting global prices of oil, grains gold prices on expectations that global economy and commodity demand will continue to grow.

"The market is up on the back of yesterday's QE3 announcement. The market has also been oversold for quite some time and is now recovering a bit," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage.

"There is a lot of covering ahead of a 3-day holiday," the trader added. Local markets will be closed on Monday following the Malaysia Day public holiday, which falls on Sunday.

The benchmark November contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended up 0.8 percent to 2,936 ringgit ($966.1) per tonne after going as high as 2,945 ringgit.

Total traded volume stood at 33,029 lots of 25 tonnes each, up from the usual 25,000 tonnes as trades locked in postions ahead of long weekend holiday.

Technicals showed Malaysian palm oil will retest a resistance at 2,960 ringgit per tonne as a rebound from the Sept. 11 low of 2,874 ringgit has not completed, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. 

The widening discount between edible soyoil and palm oil has helped shift demand to the cheaper tropical oil, but investors remain cautious due to rising inventory levels in the No.2 producer.

"Everybody knows that stock is still plentiful and I won't be surprised if September stocks go higher. That's why market is a bit depressed although the spread between bean oil and palm oil is more than $300 per tonne," the trader said.

Brent crude rose for the seventh straight session on Friday, climbing towards $118 a barrel on hopes for stronger global demand for oil and expectations that the spillover effects will reach the commodity markets. 

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery climbed nearly 1 percent, buoyed by the U.S. Federal Reserve's announcement which investors hope will improve the demand outlook for raw materials.

The most active January 2013 soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange climbed 1.2 percent.

REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stocks ended slightly higher on Monday, paring earlier gains, but demand for commodities stocks such as Indonesia's Bumi Resources and Thailand's PTTEP continued as a new round of U.S. monetary stimulus bolstered cyclical stocks.

Market investors appeared cautious on the outlook for the global economy and the euro zone crisis, traders said, prompting players to cash in on large-caps which rallied in the previous session following the U.S. economic stimulus news.

Thailand's benchmark SET index edged up 0.19 percent at 1,278.54, the highest close since June 1996, led by a 4.6 percent jump in energy explorer PTT Exploration and Production Pcl.

In Jakarta, the late reversal sent the main index down 0.04 percent, with finance index off 0.08 percent. But coal miners outperformed, including Bumi Resources, which was up 2.4 percent.

Singapore's Straits Times Index ended up 0.3 percent at a one-month closing high of 3,078.72. Palm oil producer Wilmar International Ltd gained 1.5 percent but DBS Group Holdings fell 0.6 percent after Friday's 0.7 percent gain.

RTRS-China feed meal market to tighten from Q4 - Chinatex

SHENZHEN, CHINA, Sept 13 (Reuters) - China, the world's top soy importer, will face tight supplies of feed meal from the fourth quarter of this year through early 2013 as a searing summer drought in top exporter United States cut grain supplies, a senior industry official said on Thursday.

Soymeal futures DSMcv1 in China have rallied to record highs since August due to a rally in U.S. corn and soy prices. A further tightening of meal supplies later this year would push up pork prices and drive inflation higher. (Full Story)

China's soy imports from October this year to March 2013 are expected to be no more than 25 million tonnes, down 3.2 million tonnes from the same period last year, said Guo Feng, deputy general manager at state-owned Chinatex Grains & Oils Import and Export Company. Ltd.

Soy imports will likely see the steepest fall in October, with volumes expected to decline to around 2.5 million tonnes, compared to 3.8 million tonnes in October 2011, Guo said.

"But soymeal consumption will remain robust during the period ... Supplies of pigs will remain at a high level," Guo told an industry conference held in the southern coastal city of Shenzhen.

Domestic crushing volumes for soy are expected to be around 28 million tonnes from October to March, against soy imports of 25 million, which means crushers will have to draw down their soy and meal inventories.

The tight supply situation will only ease when South American soybeans arrive early next year, Guo said.

UNLEASHING RESERVES

Worries of food inflation may prompt the government to start releasing soybean and rapeseed oil stocks, traders said. China is due to announce its new leadership in October, and the government is keen to keep food prices steady before then to avoid any public discontent.

China has been holding bi-weekly auction of soybeans from the 2008/09 harvest since late last year and bidding volumes have surged since May this year due to rising import prices. Sales reached a record high of 402,375 tonnes on August 16. (Full Story)

"Rising prices could prompt the government to release its soy reserves stockpiled in 2010/11," said Eric Zhu, who runs his own grains trading firm.

Traders estimate the government's soy reserves at as much as 10 million tonnes. The state had planned to sell 3 million tonnes of beans in the current auction and has so far sold 2.64 million tonnes.

On soyoil, a staple for cooking in China, the market will be better supplied because the government is already holding a large volume of rapeseed oil in its edible oils reserves, which can be released into the market, Chinatex's Guo said.

There are also ample supplies of substitute palm oil in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The state's edible oil reserves are estimated at 5.5 million tonnes and industry participants expect Beijing to release some stocks to help ease rising prices. 0#DBY:.

China's meal demand from livestock breeders is expected to grow 3 percent in the 2012/13 marketing year, which begins in October, against an expected 7.3 percent increase this year, Chinatex said, adding that soy imports are expected to be at 60 million tonnes in 2012/13.

Demand for edible oils is expected grow 1 percent in 2012/2013, against a flat growth this year, it said.

Trader's Highlight

DJI- NEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks surged to multi-year highs on Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced an aggressive plan to stimulate the economy, encouraging investors to dive back into the market.

The Dow and the S&P 500 both closed at their highest levels since December 2007, while the Nasdaq ended at the highest since November 2000.

Major market names were big winners, with Apple Inc AAPL.O, the most valuable U.S. company, ending at an all-time closing high and No. 2 Exxon Mobil XOM.N, closing at a four-year high. Nearly 600 shares on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq touched 52-week highs on the day.

"There has been a lot of money that's been sitting on the sidelines, and the Fed action is what spurred people to get in," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management in Bedford Hills, New York. "The spike in volume is certainly heartening."

Total volume was 8.14 billion shares, the busiest day of trading since June 22 and above last year's daily average of 7.84 billion.

In a significant shift in monetary policy, the Fed said it would buy $40 billion of agency mortgage debt per month and pledged to maintain it until the U.S. unemployment rate, currently at 8.1 percent, significantly improves. (Full Story)

"The employment situation ... remains a grave concern," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told reporters. "While the economy appears to be on a path of moderate recovery, it isn't growing fast enough to make significant progress reducing the unemployment rate."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI ended up 206.51 points, or 1.55 percent, to 13,539.86. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX closed up 23.43 points, or 1.63 percent, to 1,459.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC rose 41.51 points, or 1.33 percent, to 3,155.83.

Financial, materials and energy shares led the gains given their sensitivity to the economic outlook. Wells Fargo WFC.N jumped to a new 52-week high while the PHLX Housing Index .HGX rose 1.91 percent.

The buying of mortgage bonds is "very positive for the housing market, and for consumers in general and should really go a long way to helping stabilize the economy," Ghriskey said.

Many investors had expected the Fed to act, as reflected in the latest run-up in equity prices, but analysts said there were still some who believed that the Fed would wait until after the November presidential election.

"A lot of those doubters had to be brought up to speed here, so to speak," said Ron Rowland, president of Capital Cities Asset Management in Austin, Texas.

In an additional move that reflects just how concerned Fed officials are about the economy, officials said they were not likely to raise interest rates from near zero until at least mid-2015. Previously, it had set such guidance at late 2014.

Apple's stock AAPL.O rose 1.97 percent to $682.98 after analysts said sales of the new iPhone 5 could double those of the previous model in its first week on the market.

Exxon Mobil XOM.N gained 1.88 percent to $91.23.

The S&P financial sector index .GSPF added 2.58 percent. The S&P materials sector index .GSPM advanced 2.56 percent.

Some analysts said with the S&P 500 index up 16 percent since the beginning of the year and stocks' recent advance on hopes for help from central banks, the gains may be an opportunity for investors to pare positions.

Economic data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week. Wholesale prices rose 1.7 percent in August, the largest gain since June 2009, although core inflation was stable.

On the New York Stock Exchange, about four stocks rose for every one that fell. On the Nasdaq, five stocks rose for every two that fell.

NYMEX- NEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures pushed higher and hit a four-month peak on Thursday as the Federal Reserve's launch of another stimulus program weakened the dollar and boosted oil and equities prices.

 

CBOT SOYBEAN- Sept 13 (Reuters) - Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade ended modestly higher on Thursday, rebounding from early weakness after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a fresh phase of monetary stimulus, traders said.

• The Fed's move is expected to boost investment in riskier assets including commodities, as have previous stimulus initiatives.

• Profit-taking after Wednesday's rally pared gains.

• Soybean futures volume was estimated by CME Group at 182,564 contracts as of 4 p.m. CST (2100 GMT).

• Worries about tight soybean supplies lent support a day after the U.S. Department of Agriculture pared its forecast of U.S. 2012 soybean production.

• Weekly export sales fell short of trade expectations but year-to-date export sales of U.S. soybeans for shipment in the 2012/13 marketing year begun Sept. 1 have reached 20.385 million tonnes, 71 percent of the current USDA full-season forecast for 28.71 tonnes in exports.

• USDA data showed net combined-marketing-year soybean export sales for the latest week at 570,000 tonnes, below trade forecasts for 600,000 to 750,000 tonnes. More than 2 million tonnes in sales were carried over from the 2011/12 marketing year, which ended Aug. 31, into 2012/13.

• Light support from forecasts for frost in the Upper Midwest next weekend, although some analysts said the crop's maturity would limit any damage. Light, scattered rains on Thursday and Friday will cause some Midwest harvest slowdowns.

• Crushers in China bought 399,741 tonnes of soybeans from the government's bi-weekly auction at an average price of 4,552 yuan ($720) per tonne, the Chinese government said.

• Top global soy buyer China will face tight supplies of feed meal from the fourth quarter of this year through early 2013 due to U.S. crop losses from drought, a senior industry official said.

 

FCPO- KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures dropped on Thursday on expectations of output rising this month that could lead to a stock build-up, although losses were limited by expectations of strong Asian demand and tight supply of competing soyoil.

Palm oil prices have lost 8 percent so far this year thanks to the euro zone debt crisis stirring concerns of weaker global growth and commodity demand. In recent weeks, palm oil has dropped below 3,000 ringgit on rising stocks.

"The market is bearish. There's no doubt about it because fundamentally stocks are very high and there is no sign that production is slowing down," said a trader with a local commodities brokerage.

"Everybody knows at the back of their mind that production is climbing higher towards the peak, maybe in October," the trader added.

The benchmark November contract FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended down 0.6 percent to 2,912 ringgit ($944.8) per tonne.

Total traded volume stood at 32,384 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 24,000 lots.

Technicals showed palm oil will end its current rebound around a resistance at 2,960 ringgit per tonne and drop back to its Sept. 11 low of 2,874 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Traders have said the palm oil's widening discount to soyoil limit prices from falling as consumers shift their purchases to the tropical oil produced in Indonesia and Malaysia.

"Palm oil is now so much discounted against soy bean oil with the cap reaching $300. The market is just waiting for the time to bounce back and climb higher. Eventually, demand will start setting in," said the trader.

For now, palm oil's discount to soyoil could widen further after the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut its estimate of the soybean crop in the world's top grain-exporting nation.

The USDA pegged the soybean harvest at 2.634 billion bushels, down from last month's 2.692 billion and below analysts' average estimate of 2.657 billion. Ending stocks next summer were projected to be the lowest in nine years at 115 million, unchanged from August' s estimate.

Oil futures rose above $116 a barrel on Thursday as investors awaited a U.S. Federal Reserve announcement, expected to include more stimulus action to bolster the economy of the world's biggest oil buyer.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery BOZ2 inched up 0.2 percent. The most active January 2013 soyoil contract DBYF3 on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.7 percent.

REGIONAL EQUITY- Sept 13 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets edged up ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision later in the day, with Malaysia and Indonesia seeing strong foreign inflows as investors remained cautiously optimistic on possible further stimulus action to bolster the world's largest economy.

Malaysia .KLSE ended 0.9 percent higher on strong volume with a net foreign inflow of $43.96 million. Indonesia saw $50.19 million net offshore buying, despite the broader Jakarta index .JKSE edging down 0.1 percent.

The Philippines .PSI, the region's second best performer after Thailand, gained 0.6 percent to a one-month high, while Vietnam .VNI ended 0.8 percent firmer. Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index .FTSTI ended steady at two-week high.

Bucking the trend, Thailand .SETI fell 0.2 percent from a 16-year high.

Trader's Highlight

DJI- NEW YORK, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Stocks rose and the euro climbed to a four-month peak against the dollar on Wednesday after Germany's Constitutional Court approved the euro zone's new rescue fund, easing concerns about the region's debt crisis and leaving markets focused on prospective further easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The German court approval also boosted global stocks and cut borrowing costs for Spain and Italy.

"Today's positive ruling from the court solidifies the view that European officials are getting control over the sovereign debt crisis," said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management in New York.

The euro EUR= climbed as high as $1.2936, its highest since mid-May. The common currency has risen more than 7 percent since it hit a two-year low of around $1.2040 in July, boosted after the European Central Bank's pledge to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.

More gains are expected if the U.S. central bank implements further monetary easing o n T hursday, since more accommodative U.S. monetary conditions should weaken the dollar against other currencies, including the euro.

U.S. stocks have rallied on expectations the Fed will ease again. In a two-day meeting that concludes on Thursday, the Federal Open Market Committee must decide whether to launch a third round of bond purchases to lower borrowing costs and breathe more life into an economy that is not growing quickly enough to reduce unemployment. (Full Story)

"(It all hinges on) which way the Fed chooses to go," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments LLC.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 9.99 points, or 0.07 percent, to 13,333.35. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 3.00 points, or 0.21 percent, at 1,436.56. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 9.79 points, or 0.32 percent, at 3,114.31.

The S&P 500 index has advanced more than 9 percent since the start of June on hopes for global central bank stimulus.

Another phase of asset purchases by the Fed would likely focus on mortgage-backed securities, strategists said.

With so much expectation built up, action by the Fed that is too cautious would be an unwelcome surprise, they said.

"If the Fed declines to move forward with another round of quantitative easing, support for risk assets may weaken," said Zach Pandl, Columbia Management senior interest rate strategist.

On Wall Street, shares of Facebook Inc FB.O jumped 7.2 percent to $20.83 after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg hinted at new growth areas in his first major public appearance since the No. 1 social network's rocky IPO in May. (Full Story)

Brent crude oil prices rose 30 cents to $115.70 a barrel on the German judicial decision, expectations for Fed easing and rising geopolitical risk after militants killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya. O/R

But U.S. October crude CLc1 slipped 16 cents to settle at $97.01 a barrel, after reaching $98.06. It dropped as low as $96.31, below the $96.62 200-day moving average, a technical level closely watched by traders.

"More monetary liquidity plus geopolitical risk equals higher oil prices despite fundamentals like weaker manufacturing and demand," said Kimberly DuBord, director of research at Briefing Research in Chicago.

European stocks touched a 14-month high and the MSCI global share index .MIWD00000PUS, up 6.5 percent since the end of July, hit a five-month high of 332.42 before dipping back to be up 0.4 percent at 331.72 as profit-taking set in.

The German court's ruling damped demand for safe-haven assets like U.S. Treasuries and German bunds, leading to more tepid demand for the U.S. Treasury's $21 billion auction of 10-year notes.

NYMEX- NEW YORK, Sept 12 (Reuters) - U.S. oil slipped in choppy trading on Wednesday as data showing an unexpected rebound in U.S. crude inventories pulled prices back after they received a lift from a German court ruling affirming the legality of the euro zone bailout fund.

U.S. crude oil inventories rose 1.99 million barrels to 359.09 million barrels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, against expectations stockpiles would fall 2.6 million barrels.

CBOT SOYBEAN- Sept 12 (Reuters) - Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade climbed 2.6 percent on Wednesday, the biggest rise in three weeks, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut its forecasts for U.S. 2012 soybean yield and production, traders said.

• Soybeans bolstered by traders exiting long corn/short soybean spreads.

• Market's rise halted a five-day selloff tied to profit-taking from last week's all-time high and fears that the USDA might raise its soy yield estimate, as a few private forecasts had suggested.

• Technical buying accelerated after benchmark November soybeans SX2 climbed back above the 20-day moving average, a day after closing below that line for the first time in a month.

• The USDA lowered its forecast of U.S. 2012 soybean production to 2.634 billion bushels, from 2.692 billion in August. The USDA cut its soybean yield forecast to 35.3 bushels per acre, from 36.1 last month.

• The USDA cut its estimate of U.S. 2011/12 soybean ending stocks to 130 million bushels, from 145 million in August, reflecting an increased U.S. soybean crush.

• The USDA is scheduled to report at the end of this month on Sept. 1 quarterly soy stocks, and that figure will stand as the final 2011/12 soybean ending stocks figure.

• The USDA left its forecast of 2012/13 soybean ending stocks unchanged at 115 million bushels.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Malaysia crude palm oil futures edged up on Wednesday after Germany's top court backed a euro zone bailout fund, raising hopes that the debt crisis will not spread further and hurt global economic growth.

German's top court had earlier ruled in favour of a 700 billion euro bailout fund, lifting global stocks and shoring up Brent crude oil prices.

"I think what happened just now on the German court ruling is something that is quite encouraging for the commodity market although it comes with conditions," said Phillip Futures analyst Ker Chung Yang.

"The approval of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is something we have been waiting for. It is a breakthrough for the crisis," he added.

The benchmark November contract FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 0.4 percent to close at 2,930 ringgit ($950) per tonne. Earlier in the day, the market dropped on concerns of higher production fuelling a stock build up.

Total traded volume stood at 46,120 lots of 25 tonnes each, nearly double the usual 25,000 lots as traders piled back into the market to take positions.

Reuters technicals market analyst Wang Tao said palm oil is likely to drop to 2,869 ringgit per tonne, driven by a downward wave. A rebound from the current level will be limited to 2,947 ringgit.

Industry analyst James Fry told an industry seminar earlier in the day that palm oil prices could fall to 2,450 ringgit per tonne in the first quarter of 2013 if Brent crude dropped to $80 a barrel.

Palm oil stocks in August surged to a 10-month high of 2.1 million tonnes, exceeding market expectations, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said earlier in the week.

While production is expected to be stronger, cargo surveyors have pointed to stronger demand this month. For the first ten days of September, Malaysian palm oil exports jumped 30 percent as the country shipped out more crude to India thanks to a bigger tax free quota of the grade. PALM/SGS PALM/ITS

India's palm oil imports in the new marketing year will rise 7.9 percent to 7.5 million tonnes as the world's top edible oil buyer struggles to meet demand due to faltering local oilseed output, an industry official told Reuters.

Brent crude oil rose for a fifth straight session on Wednesday, lifted by the German court decision on the giant bailout and hopes the Federal Reserve will ease monetary policy this week.

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery BOZ2 rose 1 percent with some traders expecting the U.S. Department of Agriculture to slash soybean production estimates following a crop-damaging historic Midwest drought.

The most active January 2013 soyoil contract DBYF3 on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 0.2 percent.

REGIONAL EQUITY- Sept 12 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets ended firmer on Wednesday with Thailand rising to a 16-year high as hopes of a global economic recovery due to a new eurozone bailout fund and a possible quantity easing programme by the U.S. Federal Reserve boosted appetite for the region's risky assets.

Thailand .SETI, the region's best performer this year with 22.9 percent gain, rose 0.9 percent to its highest close since July 1996. Banking shares led by a 6.3 percent rise in Bank of Ayudhya Pcl BAY.BK helped boost the overall index.

Just before the market closed, Germany's top court gave its backing to the euro zone's new 700-billion-euro European Stability Mechanism bailout fund, a key requirement for the European Central Bank's new plan to buy the bonds of struggling euro members.

Hopes of the Fed deciding on a third round of bond buying or quantitative easing (QE3) at its two-day meeting starting on Wednesday also boosted sentiment.

Indonesia .JKSE gained 0.5 percent to a four-month closing high, Singapore .FTSTI rose 0.4 percent to its highest close since Aug. 28, the Philippines .PSI added 0.4 percent, and Vietnam .VNI ended 0.5 percent firmer.

Malaysia .KLSE ended a tad weaker with a 0.03 percent fall as it suffered a foreign outflow of $45.60 million on Wednesday.

U.S. exports to keep soybean prices high - Oil World

HAMBURG, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Strong global demand for U.S. soybeans will keep soybean prices firm in the coming months despite the recent fall from early September's record highs, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World said on Tuesday.

Global importers will have little choice but to compete for scarce U.S. supplies after poor crops in Brazil and Argentina in early 2012, it said.

“Soybean prices have only limited downward scope as long as U.S. exporters face outstanding demand, primarily from China,” Oil World said. “The bullishness may be dampened somewhat by rapid marketing of the U.S. crop as farmer selling is encouraged by huge premiums for nearby delivery.”

U.S. soybeans set a record high of $17.94-3/4 on Sept. 4 as the worst drought in half a century ravaged crops in the U.S. Midwest after drought also damaged crops in Brazil and Argentina this year. But prices fell from their peaks on hopes that rain last month had helped the U.S. soybean crop, with a key U.S. Department of Agriculture report on Wednesday keenly awaited for the latest indication of the harvest size.

Soymeal prices have also slipped back from record highs seen this summer.

“Prices seem to have met upward resistance as demand for soymeal is suffering from the eroded profitability in the livestock sector,” Oil World said.

There are increasing signs that livestock farmers are cutting production as the surge in soybean and corn prices this summer raises animal feed costs.

“Like soybeans, soymeal has only limited downward potential, at least until early 2013, given the unusually low global soymeal production shaping up in coming months,” Oil World said.

Brazil’s Sept./Dec. 2012 soybean exports are likely to fall to only 2.5 million tonnes from 7.4 million tonnes in the same period last year, Oil World said.

Export restrictions in some form cannot be ruled out in Brazil to conserve domestic supplies, it added.

The United States and Brazil are rivals for the position as the world’s largest soybean exporter.

Brazil has started to import soybeans from neighbouring Bolivia and Oil World estimates that 250,000 tonnes of Bolivian soybeans and 340,000 tonnes of Bolivian soymeal will be imported by Brazil between Aug. 2012 and Feb. 2013.

Trader's Highlight

DJI- NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - The Dow industrials closed at the highest level in nearly five years on Tuesday in a lightly traded session before key decisions in Germany and the United States that could give markets a further boost.

Energy, industrial and financial firms led the advance. Contributing to gains by the Dow industrials, shares of International Business Machines Corp IBM.N rose 1.15 percent to $203.27. Heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar CAT.N added 1.72 percent to $88.60.

Equities have rallied in recent weeks on hopes for monetary stimulus by central banks. The Federal Reserve could announce Thursday additional steps to support low interest rates. On Wednesday, Germany's highest court will decide on the legality of the euro zone's new bailout fund.

The Nasdaq erased most of its gains in the afternoon as shares of Apple AAPL.O dropped in heavy volume. The stock slipped 0.32 percent to $660.59.

Economists forecast a 60 percent chance the U.S. central bank will announce another round of quantitative easing at the end of its two-day meeting. Disappointing U.S. August jobs data released last Friday bolstered that view. (Full Story)

"I do expect the Fed to (announce) an additional quantitative easing program. I don't think it's a good idea. I don't think it's warranted," said Jamie Cox, managing partner of Harris Financial Group in Richmond, Virginia.

Some investors have concerns that a lot of the good news has already been priced in, exposing markets to a decline should the Fed disappoint. They also argue that the Fed's actions have already distorted market prices.

"We're in a technically overbought situation, so those traders are going to take their profits going into the Fed meeting," Cox said. "The Nasdaq has run up so much over the last couple of days, any disappointment by the Fed could cause a reversal."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI ended up 69.07 points, or 0.52 percent, to 13,323.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX closed up 4.48 points, or 0.31 percent, to 1,433.56. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC gained 0.50 point, or 0.02 percent, to 3,104.53.

Expectations Germany's Constitutional Court would approve the European Stability Mechanism -- the euro zone's new bailout fund -- also boosted sentiment. But legal experts believe it will impose tough conditions limiting Berlin's flexibility on future rescues, which could be seen as a negative by markets.(Full Story)

Another event which could cause turbulence in markets is a Dutch general election on Wednesday, with voters divided between bailouts for troubled euro zone economies and austerity measures. (Full Story)

Investors are keeping an eye on big-cap bellwether technology names because of their role in global business spending. Techs fell on Monday following Intel's INTC.O warning last week that reduced demand will hurt its third-quarter results. Shares were up 0.34 percent to $23.34 Tuesday.

Shares of Bank of America BAC.N rallied 5.24 percent to $9.03, leading bank stocks higher.

Knight Capital Group Inc KCG.N said it has hired IBM to look into the Aug. 1 trading glitch that cost the trading firm $440. (Full Story) The stock rose 1.12 percent.

Zynga Inc's ZNGA.O chief marketing officer resigned on Monday, becoming the latest senior executive to depart the struggling social games company behind popular Facebook Inc FB.O games such as Farmville. Zynga shares dropped 1.06 percent to $2.79. (Full Story)

On the New York Stock Exchange, two stocks rose for every one that fell. On the Nasdaq, three stocks rose for every one that fell.

Volume was light, with about 5.91 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, below last year's daily average of 7.84 billion.

NYMEX- NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures rose on Tuesday as expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will act to bolster the economy and that a German court will approve a euro zone rescue plan put pressure on the dollar and boosted crude futures.

 

FCPO SOYBEAN- Sept 11 (Reuters) - Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell to a three-week low Tuesday, extending a five-day setback from last week's record highs as traders positioned for USDA's Sept. 12 supply/demand reports.

• Sell-stops triggered as the benchmark November soybean contract SX2 fell below its 20-day moving average for the first time since Aug. 15. The contract also dipped below psychological support at $17 for the first time since Aug. 21.

• Ahead of USDA's monthly report, the average analyst estimate pegged U.S. soybean production at 2.657 billion bushels, just below USDA's August forecast of 2.692 billion, but some analysts predicted an increase on ideas that August rains may have boosted soy yield prospects.

• Analysts expected USDA to lower its forecasts of U.S. 2011/12 and 2012/13 soybean ending stocks.

• USDA late Monday said 32 percent of the U.S. soybean crop was rated good to excellent, an improvement from 30 percent a week earlier. US/SOY

• Some traders noted anecdotal yield reports from the early U.S. soybean harvest that were not as bad as feared after this summer's historic drought.

• Strong export demand for U.S. soybeans will keep CBOT prices firm in the coming months, despite a setback from record highs hit this month, due to poor 2012 harvests in South America - analysts Oil World.

• CBOT has yet to report any deliveries of soybeans or soymeal against September futures, but soyoil deliveries for Tuesday totaled 534 contracts.

FCPO- SINGAPORE, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures slipped on Tuesday to their lowest in nearly a month, as traders turned cautious about high stocks and ahead of key reports by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) due this week.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) reported August stocks at a 10-month high of 2.1 million tonnes, erasing some gains in palm oil futures that are trading 8 percent lower this year. (Full Story)

Traders also avoided taking risky positions ahead of the USDA's monthly supply-demand and crop production reports on Wednesday that could give insight into the extent of drought damage to soybean crops. GRA/

"Today's selloff is purely technical," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. "Basically we saw long liquidation coming in early in the morning. After the market broke below 2,900 ringgit, further selling came in."

The benchmark November contract FCPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange slipped 0.6 percent to close at 2,919 ringgit ($945) per tonne. Prices had earlier fallen to 2,874 ringgit, the lowest level since Aug. 15.

Total traded volume stood at 52,583 lots of 25 tonnes each, more than double the usual 25,000 lots.

Technicals will remain neutral until palm oil falls out of the range of 2,895 to 2,943 ringgit, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao, adding that a drop below 2,895 ringgit would extend to 2,867 ringgit. (Full Story)

Demand strengthened as Malaysia's palm oil exports rose as much as 30 percent for the Sept. 1-10 period from a month ago, cargo surveyor data showed on Monday. PALM/ITS PALM/SGS

"Though the latest data shows optimism on the export side on the back of higher tax-free crude palm oil quota, a growing concern is on the stockholding level, which has now spiralled to more than 2 million tonnes," Malaysia-based TA Securities said in a note to clients.

"This would adversely impact the price of crude palm oil moving forward. To aggravate further, Indonesia's stock level appears to be higher than consensus expectations."

In a bullish sign for palm oil, oil rose above $115 a barrel on Tuesday, lifted by expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve would unveil further steps to stimulate its economy this week. O/R

In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery BOZ2 fell 0.2 percent by 1004 GMT. The most active January 2013 soyoil contract DBYF3 on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.5 percent lower.

REGIONAL EQUITY- Sept 11 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets edged down for a second day on Tuesday with Malaysia falling to a more than two-month closing low as investors waited for cues from a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting and a German ruling on the euro zone's new bailout fund.

Malaysia .KLSE fell 0.4 percent to its lowest close since July 4, led by financials with large-cap CIMB Group Holdings Bhd CIMB.KL losing 1.6 percent.

"Investors are still waiting to see what is happening outside and they are not really keen to rush back to the market," said Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB, based in Singapore.

The Fed may decide on a third round of bond buying or quantitative easing (QE3) at its two-day meeting starting on Wednesday, while Europe faces another testing week as it seeks to pull itself out from its debt woes.

On Wednesday, Dutch voters will go to the polls and Germany's constitutional court is set to rule on new powers for the European Stability Mechanism, the euro zone's new bailout fund.

Thailand .SETI lost 0.2 percent, while Indonesia .JKSE and the Philippines .PSI eased 0.1 percent each. Vietnam .VNI , the region's smallest bourse, fell 0.6 percent to a two-week low.

Bucking the trend, Singapore .FTSTI gained 0.3 percent.