Palm | Kelapa Sawit

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil futures hit three-week highs on Monday as investors took up positions ahead of the long holidays, spurred by talk of strong Chinese demand for vegetable oils.

Palm oil has erased most of its losses so far this year, thanks to erratic weather in top producers Indonesia and Malaysia limiting output growth at a time when Asian festival demand for the vegetable oil has kicked off.

The benchmark crude palm oil futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended up 1.9 percent at 2,618 ringgit ($841) per tonne, after touching 2,630 ringgit -- a level unseen since Aug 18.

Malaysian financial markets may close as early as Thursday for the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Fitr.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-COLOMBO, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Monday, with Indonesia setting another record high and Thailand rising to a 14-year high on optimism over the global recovery after better-than-expected U.S. jobs data.

Indonesia <.JKSE>, the region's second-best performer this year, closed up 1.7 percent, also hitting a record closing high of 3,217.15, while Thailand <.SETI>, the best performer in Southeast Asia with a 27.4 percent return this year, gained 0.2 percent.

In Singapore, a 0.9 percent rise in financial DBS group and a 0.6 percent gain in Oversea Chinese Banking Corp helped take the index to its highest in a month.

Shares in Singapore-listed casino operator Genting Hong Kong hit an all-time high on a report that it was in talks with the Philippine government on a casino project.