Palm | Kelapa Sawit

DJI-NEW YORK, June 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks drifted sideways on Monday, in what is likely a temporary pause in a sell-off brought on by growing fears of another economic downturn.

The benchmark S&P 500 rose for only the second time in the past nine sessions while the Nasdaq 100 .NDX managed to survive a fall below its 200-day moving average at 2,218, quickly reversing those losses.

Investors remained noncommittal about whether stocks have become cheap enough after six weeks of selling to pour some money back into equities again.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.06 points, or 0.01 percent, to end at11,952.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added just 0.85 of a point, or 0.07percent, to 1,271.83. But the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 4.04 points, or 0.15percent, to close at 2,639.69.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, June 13 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures ended lower for a second session on Monday as the S&P's credit rating downgrade of Greece and signs of a cooling Chinese economy stoked concerns about a slowdown in economic growth.

Greece became the country with the lowest credit rating in the world after Standard & Poor's downgraded it by three notches, saying the agency would consider a likely debt restructuring as a default.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, July crude CLN1 settled at $97.30 a barrel, dropping $1.99, or 2 percent, after trading from $96.13, to $99.32.

CBOT-SOYBEANS-Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures closed lower on improved U.S. planting weather, falling crude oil and on profit-taking.

Drier weather this week in the U.S. Midwest seen boosting crop plantings except in low-lying areas adjacent to rivers where flooding remains a problem. There will be some occasional shower activity that will disrupt plantings.

FCPO-KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures snapped five days of losses on Monday, pulling back from a more than one-month low earlier in the session on hopes for higher overseas demand, although concerns about rising stock levels weighed.

Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance last week said exports of Malaysian palm oil products for June 1-10 rose as much as 27.2 percent to 411,852 tonnes from one month ago.

The benchmark August crude palm oil contract KPOc3 on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose half a percent to 3,256 ringgit ($1,077.79) per tonne, after reversing losses from 3,199 ringgit hit earlier in the day -- a level unseen since May 9.

Palm oil, which lost 5.3 percent last week, was pressured by data that showed stocks in Malaysia in May rose 15 percent from April to a 16-month high of 1.92 million tonnes. Overall traded volume was 24,692 lots of 25 tonnes each, from the usual 25,000 lots.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, June 13 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets hit multi-week lows on Monday as the weak outlook for the global economy dented sentiment and foreigners continued to sell in Thailand ahead of its general election next month.

Caution about the corporate earnings outlook grew as investors assessed the impact of a global slowdown. Trading was generally subdued, with turnover in Thailand falling to 0.6 times its 30-day average, the weakest in the region.

The twin threat from the global slowdown and domestic political uncertainty lopped 0.5 percent off the benchmark Thai index .SETI on Monday, after a 3.5 percent drop last week, when it was Southeast Asia's worst performer.
Stocks in Indonesia .JKSE and the Philippines .PSI lost more than 1 percent while Singapore .FTSTI, Malaysia .KLSE and Vietnam .VNI posted smaller losses.

Singapore fell to its lowest in 11 weeks, with Indonesia at eight-week lows and the Philippines at nine-week lows.

Concern over a sputtering U.S. economic recovery, slowing growth in China and India and festering problems in the euro zone pushed the MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS down nearly 1 percent to a 2-1/2-month low. It regained some ground and was 0.4 percent lower by 0929 GMT.

Southeast Asian stocks fared worse than broader Asia, with the MSCI index for Southeast Asia .MISU00000PUS down 1.09 percent at 0929 GMT.

Regional big-caps were among the most actively traded stocks by turnover on the day. Malaysia's top lender, Maybank MBBM.KL, lost 0.7 percent while Indonesia's main vehicle distributor and biggest listed firm, Astra International ASII.JK, dropped 1.8percent.