Palm | Kelapa Sawit

DJI-NEW YORK, June 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dropped on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut its forecasts for U.S. economic growth this year and next, without hinting at further plans for stimulus.

Investors hoping for positive comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke were disappointed, and that gave them a reason to sell after a four-day rally that had lifted stocks from three-month lows.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI slid 80.34 points, or 0.66 percent, to end at 12,109.67. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX fell 8.38 points, or 0.65 percent, to 1,287.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC lost 18.07 points, or 0.67 percent, to close at 2,669.19.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, June 22 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures ended more than 1 percent higher on Wednesday on lift from falling inventories in the United States and after the Federal Reserve left interest rates low, fueling expectations intraday for more dollar weakness.

The Federal Reserve cut its forecasts for U.S. economic growth. The central bank left interest rates unchanged and said it will leave them exceptionally low for an extended period, but offered no hint of further monetary support, saying growth should pick up soon.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, August crude CLQ1, rose $1.24, or 1.32 percent, to settle at $95.41 a barrel, having traded from $93.24 to $95.70.

CBOT-SOYBEANS-U.S. soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell to a one-month on fund long liquidation and spillover pressure from steep declines in CBOT corn and wheat, traders said.

Spot soybeans fell to a one-month low, setting back after a two-day rally. CBOT corn fell more than 4 percent and hit a six-week low, while CBOT wheat hit a seven-month low on ideas that suppliers in the Black Sea region were returning to the world export market.

FCPO-JAKARTA, June 22 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell 1.3 percent on Wednesday, as the imminent onset of a higher production cycle offset an anticipated short-term demand uptick.

The benchmark September crude palm oil contract KPOc3 on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange ended at 3,178 Malaysian ringgit ($1,049) a tonne, its low for the day.

Market players are expecting production to rise in the second half of 2011 in Southeast Asian producing countries, which account for more than 90 percent of global output.

Last week, benchmark prices touched their lowest level since May 6, at 3,163 ringgit, as stock levels grow.

Stocks in Malaysia are expected to rise above a 16-month high of 1.92 million tonnes hit last month. While this could draw in more demand, production levels are key.

On Monday, data showed that exports of Malaysian palm oil products for June 1-20 rose 22 percent to 969,804 tonnes from 794,322 tonnes shipped during May 1-20. PALM/ITS

Traded volume for the September contract was 15,700 lots of 25 tonnes each. Palm oil prices in the coming year might fall about 9 percent from their average in the last 12 months as global palm output is expected to rise sharply, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World said late on Tuesday.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, June 22 (Reuters) - Some Southeast Asian stock markets retreated on Wednesday in cautious trade ahead of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting and resource shares pulled back due to volatility in global oil prices.

The markets climbed to multi-week highs at one point, albeit in relatively light volume, amid hopes that Greece would avoid a debt default, which lured bargain-hunters back to beaten-down emerging equities.

However, stocks in Singapore .FTSTI, Thailand .SETI and Vietnam .VNI erased early gains and they posted small losses on the day. Philippine shares .PSI rose 0.8 percent, building on a 1.4 percent rise the previous session.

Malaysia .KLSE ended up 0.4 percent in a choppy session while Indonesia's main share index .JKSE rose 0.7 percent to around two-week highs.