Palm | Kelapa Sawit

DJI-NEW YORK, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Weak commodities and a firmer dollar pressured U.S. stocks on Thursday as investors shunned big bets before a jobs report that could determine the next move from the Fed.

The dollar reversed a long downtrend, slamming oil and gold markets, which in turn took a toll on energy and mining stocks. Newmont Mining Corp and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold both fell more than 2 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dipped 19.07 points, or 0.17 percent, to 10,948.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> eased 1.91 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,158.06. But the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 3.01 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,383.67.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Oct 7 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures prices settled nearly 2 percent lower on Thursday, retreating from an five-month high above $84 a barrel as a bounce by the dollar prompted investors to book profits ahead of a key September nonfarm payrolls report.

Crude rose early on Thursday on lift from an ongoing strike at France's top oil port, a dip in U.S. first-time jobless benefits claims and the dollar's slump before recovery took hold.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, November crude fell $1.56, or 1.87 percent, to settle at $81.67 a barrel, trading from $81.00 to $84.43, the highest intraday price since $86.24 was struck on May 4.

CBOT-CHICAGO, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex close on Thursday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - November up 3 cents at $10.65 a bushel. Following corn higher with support also from brisk export sales of U.S. soy. Some expectations for USDA on Friday to show a switch of soy acreage to corn also supported soy.

CBOT-SOYOIL - October up 0.35 cent at 43.79 cents per lb. Following soybeans.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil hit a near 17-month high on Thursday as traders bet the weak dollar may spur more demand for U.S. priced vegetable oil from top buyers China and India.

The dollar held near a 15-year low on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will shift towards a looser monetary policy and spur another round of quantitative easing -- a scenario that has supported equity and commodity markets.

Investors expect the world's top vegetable oil buyers China and India to restock after festival season ends, focusing on palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia that will go through a seasonal upswing in production and soyoil from a bumper U.S. crop.

Benchmark Malaysian palm oil <0#KPO:> rose almost 2 percent to 2,786 ringgit ($901.3) after touching an intraday high of 2,788 ringgit -- a level unseen since May 13 last year.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Most big Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Thursday as appetite for shares in the region waned because of global tension about currency valuations and uncertainty about economic growth around the world.

Further gains are expected, but for now investors are locking in profits, opting for caution ahead of meetings of finance ministers and central bankers at the IMF and other forums at the end of the week, with currencies a focus.

Singapore <.FTSTI> fell 0.7 percent, moving off a 28-month high set the day before, Indonesia <.JKSE> lost 0.5 percent after scaling a record high on Wednesday, and Thailand <.SETI> ended down 0.8 percent, slipping from a 14-year high.

However, Malaysia <.KLSE> reversed an early loss to finish with a 0.1 percent gain, hovering around a 32-month high, while the Philippines <.PSI> rose 1.2 percent to an all-time high and Vietnam <.VNI> added 0.3 percent to a four-week high.

In Asia in general, stocks edged up to a two-year high, led by resource-related shares. The U.S. dollar was near a 15-year low against the yen before a U.S. jobs report on Friday.

Liquid big caps led the losses, including a 1 percent drop in Singapore Telecommunications Ltd , Southeast Asia's biggest telecommunications firm. Indonesia's biggest phone firm, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia , fell 3.2 percent. Southeast Asia is trading at a relatively high forward price-to-earnings ratio, led by Indonesia's 15.9 against all Asia's 13.3, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine.

That was followed by Malaysia's 15.1, the Philippines' 14.4, Singapore's 14.2, Thailand's 12.7 and Vietnam's 12.3, the data showed.