Palm | Kelapa Sawit

DJI-NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Fear gripped world markets on Thursday, pummeling stocks and driving the dollar to a near 15-year low against the yen as the latest economic data spurred new worries of a deepening slowdown in the United States that could reverberate around the world.

Investors fled for the safety of U.S. Treasuries and gold, sending the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond to its lowest level since April 2009 and driving gold to a seven-week high in New York.

New U.S. claims for first-time jobless benefits scaled a nine-month high last week, while the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported an unexpected contraction in manufacturing in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 144.33 points, or 1.39 percent, at 10,271.21. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 18.53 points, or 1.69 percent, at 1,075.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 36.75 points, or 1.66 percent, at 2,178.95.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures prices fell a second straight session on Thursday as weak U.S. economic data fueled concerns about demand in a tepid economic recovery.

Factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly contracted in August to its lowest level in more than a year, according to the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, which said its business activity index fell to minus 7.7 in August from July's 5.1.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, September crude fell 99 cents, or 1.31 percent, to settle at $74.43 a barrel, trading from $73.96 to $76.10.


CBOT-CHICAGO, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex close on Thursday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - September down 18-1/2 cents per bushel at $10.16-3/4. Opened higher on a surge in wheat and big exports, but turned weak on profit-taking and outlooks for a potential record large U.S. soy crop in 2010.

CBOT-SOYOIL - September down 0.97 cent per lb at 39.89. Pressure from lower soy and weak crude oil.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures fell to their lowest in more than two weeks on Thursday over concerns the appreciating ringgit currency would hit refining margins while the soy production outlook stayed strong.

Palm oil has recouped some of its losses in 2010 although it may fall further as a stronger ringgit against the U.S. dollar could lead to lower margins for refiners who buy crude palm oil in the Malaysian currency for processing and export in the U.S. currency.

The benchmark November crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange dropped 0.6 percent, or 15 ringgit, to 2,595 ringgit ($825.6) per tonne after falling as low as 2,567 ringgit, a level unseen since Aug. 3. Overall traded volume nearly doubled to 19,817 lots of 25 tonnes each from the usual 10,000 lots.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Thursday as optimism over the region's emerging economies lured capital inflows, with Indonesian equities scaling an all-time high and Thai stocks hitting a 33-month high.

Indonesia gained the largest daily net foreign inflow this year of $197 million while Thailand recorded a fourth straight session of foreign buying and the biggest daily net inflow in three weeks worth $82.3 million.

Singapore <.FTSTI> rose nearly 1 percent to a 1-week high, Malaysia <.KLSE> and the Philippines <.PSI> each hovered at their highest in 2-½ years, gaining 0.5 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

In Singapore, investors bought property stocks on improving demand for office space in the city-state.

Property developer CapitaLand and City Developments each rose 2.8percent.