Palm | Kelapa Sawit

DJI-NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - An upbeat profit forecast from Bank of America and a pullback in oil prices lifted Wall Street out of the technical danger zone on Tuesday in another sign of the market's near-term resilience.

The S&P 500 jumped back above a six-month trend line after closing just below it on Monday. Holding this level is a sign of strength, but traders will grow wary the more it is tested.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 124.58 points, or 1.03 percent, to 12,214.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> added 11.69 points, or 0.89 percent, to 1,321.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 20.14 points, or 0.73 percent, to 2,765.77.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures edged lower on Tuesday after Kuwait's oil minister said OPEC was considering raising output to cover any supply deficit that might stem from the Libyan conflict.

Even as worries about supply disruptions in the Middle East and North Africa persisted, Algeria's minister of energy and mines, Yousef Yousfi, said there are no plans for an extraordinary OPEC meeting at this time.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for April delivery settled at $105.02 a barrel, down 42 cents, or 0.4 percent, after trading from $103.33 to $105.79.

CBOT-CHICAGO, March 8 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures fell for the second straight session on Tuesday on harvest pressure from what is expected to be a large South American crop, traders said.

Concerns about a slowdown in global economic expansion as high crude oil prices firm and technical selling also weighed on soybean futures.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (Reuters) - Malaysian crude palm oil dropped as much as 3.4 percent on Tuesday as a rally in crude oil lost some steam, while prospects of a strong South American soy crop also weighed on sentiment.

Traders seized the opportunity to book profits ahead of a key price outlook session on Wednesday at the Bursa Malaysia Palm Oil Conference where top analysts will present their views.

The benchmark May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell as much as 124 ringgit to 3,571 Malaysian ringgit ($1,178) before settling at 3,584 ringgit. Traded volume stood at 17,621 lots at 25 tonnes versus the usual 15,000 lots.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, March 8 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday as hopes of higher oil output from producers revived risk appetite and bargain hunters bought Thai banks on expectations of higher interest rates.

Kuwait's oil minister said OPEC was in talks to boost production for the first time in more than two years, which prompted late buying in the region and pushed up Asian stocks elsewhere.

Most regional indexes hovered around multi-week highs but market players were still cautious about inflationary pressure, which put economic growth at risk, dealers said.

Banks in Singapore were among bright spots, with leader DBS Group Holdings and United Overseas Bank more than 1 percent higher. Dealers attributed the buying to short-covering.