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DJI-NEW YORK, March 17 (Reuters) - Wall Street rebounded after three days of declines on Thursday, but the advance could be temporary as concerns about Japan's nuclear crisis persisted.

The S&P 500 <.SPX> recovered after giving up the year's gains on Wednesday, but options activity showed traders are increasing hedges against another decline in stocks. The Dow Jones Transport average <.DJT> gained 1.4 percent.

A total of about 1.16 million option contracts traded in the S&P 500 as puts outpaced calls by a ratio of 2.15, above its recent daily ratio of 1.93, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, March 17 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures rose 3.5 percent on Thursday as tensions escalated between Libya and foreign governments trying to forge a response and as Middle East unrest continued.

Total U.S. crude trading volume was light at 535,309 lots, the lowest since Jan. 3.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, April crude rose $3.44, or 3.51 percent, to settle at $101.42 a barrel, trading from $96.60 to $101.99.

CBOT-CHICAGO, March 17 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade May soybeans ended up 3.75 percent on the day, lifted by technically based buying and leadership from corn, traders said. In addition, funds bought and estimated 10,000 soybean contracts, as well as 4,000 soymeal and 6,000 soyoil futures.

FCPO-JAKARTA, March 17 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures dipped as much as 1 percent on Thursday, as persistent uncertainty surrounding the economic impact of the devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami weighed on prices.

The benchmark May 2011 crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed at 3,338 Malaysian ringgit ($1,094) a tonne, down 0.27 percent after earlier touching a low of 3,305 ringgit.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, March 17 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets pulled lower in light volume on Thursday as investors sold across the board in response to Japan's worsening nuclear crisis.

Unrest in the Middle East and weak U.S. housing data added to worries about the global economy after the earthquake that hit Japan last week, damaging a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, north of Tokyo.

Turnover in most of the region's markets fell below the 30-day average, with Malaysia and Thailand trading at just two-thirds of their average .

Indexes in Singapore <.FTSTI>, Malaysia <.KLSE>, Thailand <.SETI> and Indonesia <.JKSE> reversed Wednesday's gains.

Singapore Telecommunications dropped 2.1 percent and CapitaLand lost 1.6 percent among weak blue chips.

Analysts attributed the bearish sentiment in Singapore to weak U.S. housing data, with housing starts tumbling 22.5 percent last month to an annual rate of 479,000 units, just shy of a record low set in April 2009 and way below economists' expectations for 570,000 units.