Palm | Kelapa Sawit

DJI-NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - World stocks slid and the dollar rebounded on Friday as a growing U.S. foreclosure crisis undermined an initial boost after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated more monetary stimulus was on the way.

U.S. Treasury prices fell and yields rose on the view that Bernanke aims to boost asset prices by creating inflation through a second round of so-called quantitative easing.

Bernanke said there was a case for further monetary easing, given high unemployment and low inflation. But despite his most explicit signal yet, he offered no details on the Fed's next move.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed down 31.79 points, or 0.29 percent, at 11,062.78. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 2.38 points, or 0.20 percent, at 1,176.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 33.39 points, or 1.37 percent, at 2,468.77.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures prices fell on Friday in choppy trading as the dollar bounced, pressuring oil, and as November crude oil options approached their expiration at the end of the session.

Crude prices finished lower on the week, the first lower finish in four weeks.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, November crude fell $1.44, or 1.74 percent, to settle at $81.25 a barrel, trading from $80.75 to $83.33.

CBOT-CHICAGO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soybean closing trends on Friday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - November down 3-1/2 cents at $11.85 a bushel; January down 3-1/4 at $11.95-3/4. Falling crude oil market and strengthening dollar pressure prices despite good demand for U.S. supplies on the export market.

CBOT-SOYOIL - December down 0.25 cent at 47.77 cents per lb. Weakness in crude oil market weighs.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures look likely to revisit the 3,000 ringgit ($973.4) level hit two years ago as global vegetable oil supply concerns grow and the U.S. dollar weakens.

But could the party end abruptly for palm oil, which has surged almost 24 percent so far in the second half of 2010?

Palm oil has been riding high since a drought hit oilseed crops in the Black Sea region in July and August, getting an extra fillip this week when the U.S. government surprisingly cut its estimates for what was expected to be a bumper soy crop.

The third month contract on Bursa Malaysia rose 19 ringgit to 2,935 ringgit a tonne on Friday, just off the two-year high of 2,970 ringgit hit the previous day.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets pulled back modestly on Friday, pausing after gains early in the
week amid optimism about further monetary easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve, but Thailand and Singapore eked out small gains.

Regional equity markets, including Thailand and the Philippines, attracted strong inflows on the week as international capital sought high investment returns, prompting policy makers to take measures to deal with the currency impact.

Singapore's central bank surprised markets by widening its trading band for its currency, pushing the Singapore dollar to multi-year highs.

Malaysia hit a 33-month high, Singapore moved around a 29-month high and Thailand hovered at a level not seen since before the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

In Singapore, Singapore Exchange Ltd , Asia's second largest bourse by market cap, rose 4.3 percent ahead of major listings and the release of first-quarter earnings next week.