Palm | Kelapa Sawit

DJI-NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday after better-than-expected retail sales in August spurred optimism, but gold climbed to almost $1,000 an ounce in a sign of lingering risk aversion and fear of future inflation.

Crude oil slipped, settling just under $68 a barrel, as disappointing news from the labor market outweighed upbeat data showing that the U.S. service sector and retail sales improved.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 63.94 points, or 0.69 percent, at 9,344.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 8.49 points, or 0.85 percent, at 1,003.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 16.13 points, or 0.82 percent, at 1,983.20.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended lower on Thursday, but little changed from the previous session as traders grappled with mixed economic data and turned cautious.

Commodity markets were mixed and traders were awaiting Friday's key U.S. employment report for August to get a picture of how the labor market is faring as the economy fights its way to recovery from recession. The government report is due at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT).

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, October crude settled down 9 cents, or 0.13 percent, at $67.96 a barrel, trading trading from $67.66 to $69.40.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - September down 27-1/4 cents per bushel at $9.82. November down 9-1/2 at $9.41-1/2.

Forecast for record U.S. soy crop, collapsing cash basis and collapsing spreads weighed on soybean futures.

CBOT-SOYOIL - September down 0.04 cent at 34.08 cents per lb. Weakness in soy markets pressures prices.

U.S. soyoil stocks 3.338 billion lbs in July, down from June 2009 stocks of 3.417 billion - Census.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures fell 1.2 percent to hit a fresh 5-week low as prospects of higher global vegetable oil supplies as well as uncertain financial markets and weak technicals sapped sentiment.

The benchmark November palm oil contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled down 27 ringgit to 2,218 ringgit ($628.3) per tonne, a level unseen since July 31.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Thai stocks climbed to their
highest in a year on Thursday, leading the way up in Southeast Asia, as shares in big-cap mobile phone operators jumped amid optimism about the prospect for the rollout of 3G services.

Indonesia's index <.JKSE> rose 1.6 percent, Malaysia's index <.KLSE> gained 0.5 percent. The Philippine index <.PSI> eased 0.2 percent and Vietnam's index <.VNI> dropped 1.3 percent on resuming trade after a market holiday on Wednesday.

In Singapore, Genting Singapore jumped 6.5 percent and Neptune Orient Lines , the world's fifth-biggest container shipping firm, was up 4.1 percent.