Palm | Kelapa Sawit

DJI-NEW YORK, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Bank shares weighed on Wall Street on Monday as Europe's smoldering debt crisis and fears of an insider trading probe in the United States sapped buying interest for most of the session.

But the Nasdaq fared better than the Dow and the S&P 500 after upgrades to chipmaker SanDisk Corp and chip-gear makers Amkor Technology Inc and Teradyne Inc .

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 24.97 points, or 0.22 percent, to 11,178.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> dipped 1.89 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,197.84. But the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 13.90 points, or 0.55 percent, to 2,532.02.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Nov 22 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended lower on Monday as euro slumped and the dollar strengthened due to uncertainty about how Ireland's debt bailout would be carried out.

Investors feared that financial problems may also affect
other euro zone countries saddled with debt. On the New York Mercantile Exchange,January crude settled 24 cents lower, or 0.29 percent, at $81.74, trading from $80.68 to $82.87.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, January crude settled 24 cents lower, or 0.29 percent, at $81.74, trading from $80.68 to $82.87.

CBOT-CHICAGO, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex close on Monday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - January up 20 cents per bushel at $12.21-1/2. Supported by short-covering after the steep slide of prices on Friday and mounting concerns about dryness in Argentina. News Ireland would receive a bailout initially viewed as supportive as the dollar sagged but the dollar then turned firm.

CBOT-SOYOIL - December up 0.22 cent per lb at 49.18. Strength in soybeans offsets spillover weakness from a fall in Malaysian and Dalian palm oil futures.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures slid 4.4 percent on Monday after China's central bank stepped up controls on money supply and credit last week, a move that may limit the country's demand for vegetable oils.

China's central bank said on Friday it will raise cash reserve requirements on banks for the second time in two weeks, stepping up its battle to rein in prices before inflation has a chance to take off.

The benchmark Feb. 2011 Malaysia palm oil contract fell as much as 147 ringgit to 3,179 ringgit ($1,021) per tonne before settling at 3,184 ringgit. Traded volume more than doubled to 20,887 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets ended slightly lower on Monday, with concerns over China's policies weighing on Singapore's property shares and dampening sentiment in regional palm plantation stocks.

Across the region, risk aversion generally faded after global financial authorities agreed to save debt-swamped Ireland and safeguard Europe's wider financial stability, with Indonesia <.JKSE> reversing early losses to end 0.4 percent higher.

Singapore <.FTSTI> and Malaysia <.KLSE> each eased 0.2 percent, regaining early lost ground. The Philippines <.PSI> fell 0.4 percent and Vietnam <.VNI> slid 0.08 percent, after earlier dropping to 16-month lows.

In Singapore, property shares fell after China and Hong Kong took steps to cool their property markets, with City Developments down 3.2 percent and CapitaLand 0.8 percent lower.

Amongst losers, Malaysia's second largest palm oil conglomerate IOI Corp fell 0.3 percent and Singapore's Wilmar International Ltd slid 0.5 percent.