Palm | Kelapa Sawit

DJI - NEW YORK, Feb 27 - U.S. stocks fell and the S&P 500 marked its worst-ever start to a year on Friday, after the government said it will take a large stake in Citigroup's common shares, fanning fears it will increase its role in other
major banks.

The decline closed out a grim month on Wall Street, with the Dow industrials hitting the lowest level since May 1997 as the blue-chip index fell for a sixth straight month.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 119.15 points, or 1.66 percent, to 7,062.93. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 17.74 points, or 2.36 percent, to 735.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 13.63 points, or 0.98 percent, to 1,377.84.

NYMEX - NEW YORK, Feb 27 - Crude oil speculators on the New York Mercantile Exchange cut net long positions in the week to Feb. 24, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday showed.

Crude oil speculators reduced net long positions to 28,749 from 45,016 during the week to Feb. 17. Slumping demand due to the economic crisis has weighed on oil prices, sending crude from record highs above $147 a barrel in July to around $44 on
Friday.

CBOT - SOYBEANS - March up 5-1/4 at $8.74-1/2 per bushel. Nearbys up on short-covering and concern about fate of Argentine soy exports. Declining demand for U.S. soy from China, drop in crude oil and stock market as the dollar gains weighing on soy futures.

CBOT - SOYOIL - March down 0.79 at 30.85 cents per lb. Following soy lower with declining crude oil and stock market weakness lending pressure.

FCPO - JAKARTA, Feb 27 - Malaysian palm futures finished little changed after giving up most of early gains on Friday as bearish demand prospect outweighed hopes of good exports for February, traders said.

The benchmark May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 5 ringgit, or 0.3 percent, to 1,895 ringgit ($512) a tonne, coming off an intra-day high of 1,919 ringgit.

REGIONAL EQUITIES - BANGKOK, Feb 27 - Major Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Friday, with worse-than-expected quarterly
results from Singapore's UOB helping pull that market lower, and Sime Darby and Genting among decliners in Malaysia after poor results.

Singapore fell 1.4 percent with lender United Overseas Bank down 3.6 percent after its quarterly profit dropped due to a bad-debt writedown, raising concerns it may make a rights offer.

Malaysia drifted 0.31 percent lower, with top palm oil firm Sime Darby sliding 1.7 percent as its quarterly profit fell 65.2 percent. Conglomerate Genting fell 2.3 percent after it reported a quarterly loss.