Palm | Kelapa Sawit

DJI-Global stocks and the dollar closed higher on Thursday after recent slides, as increasingly bearish expectations for European rate rises and U.S. employment were dashed by a dose of moderately favorable news. The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 73.03 points, or 0.65 percent, at 11,288.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index<.SPX> added 1.38 points, or 0.11 percent, at 1,262.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> fell 6.08 points, or 0.27 percent, at 2,245.38. U.S. Markets will be closed on Friday for the U.S. Independence Day holiday and reopen Sunday night.

ECB-The euro fell and shares and euro zone government bonds rallied after the European Central Bank (ECB)snuffed speculation that an aggressive interest rate policy was at hand. The ECB raised its benchmark rate by one-quarter percentage point to 4.25 percent, the major Western bank to raise interest rates since the credit crisis erupted last August.

NYMEX-U.S. oil futures ended at a record settlement on Thursday, but below the intraday record near $146 a barrel, as the dollar rose against the euro. August crude settled up $1.72, or 1.2 percent, to a record $145.29 a barrel, after trading from $143.22 to a record high of $145.85.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - July up 12-1/4 cents at $16.58 per bushel, new-crop November up 1 at $16.31. Nearbys supported by tight nearby supplies and strong 2007/08 exports as reflected in the weekly USDA export sales report. New top of $16.63 notched in July. Gains in backs limited by profit taking after week rally spurred by government's bullish U.S. soy harvested acreage forecast.

Scattered showers in the U.S. Midwest in past 24 hours, but weekend looks clear, giving corn/soy crops a chance to recover from recent heavy rain and flooding.

SOYOIL - July down 0.44 cent at 67.33 cents per lb. Pressured by profit-taking; meal/oil spreading. Crude underpins. U.S. Census Bureau said U.S. soyoil stocks totaled 2.972 billion lbs in May.

FCPO-Malaysian crude palm oil futures climbed higher on Thursday as more traders bet on the vegetable oil's attractiveness as a feedstock for biodiesel following another surge in crude oil prices to record levels. But sharp falls in soyoil futures at China's Dalian Commodity Exchange after a large trading firm liquidated contracts weighed on palm oil prices. The benchmark September contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled up 19 ringgit at 3,635 ringgit ($1,113) after trading lower earlier on.

Dealers were also talking about Beijing's release of soybean reserves in case of a big price rise during the August Olympics."The market was anticipating interruption by the government during the Olympics," said Liu Defeng, a dealer with China Internatioanl Futures Co. Ltd in Dalian. But analysts have said that given ample imports in coming months, it was unlikely for the government to release its reserves, which stand below 1 million tonnes.

Regional equities- Markets in much of the rest of Southeast Asia also fell on fears that slowing global economic growth and rising oil and raw material prices would erode company profits and consumer confidence.