Palm | Kelapa Sawit

DJI-NEW YORK, July 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended a thinly traded session mostly flat on Tuesday as investors paused after last week's surge, though continually light volume suggested the market could encounter more choppy trading.

The Nasdaq closed higher for its sixth straight day, helped by strength in Netflix, while the Dow and the S&P 500 ended five-day streaks that marked the best week for equities in two years.

The S&P gained 5.6 percent last week, rebounding from weakness over the past two months, but concerns about economic growth and the U.S. debt ceiling could temper gains in coming days.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 12.90 points, or 0.10 percent, at 12,569.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was down 1.79 points, or 0.13 percent, at 1,337.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 9.74 points, or 0.35 percent, at 2,825.77.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, July 5 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures rose more than 2 percent on Tuesday, bouncing back after a long holiday weekend, as commodities rose on demand optimism.

Barclays Capital raised its 2012 price forecast for Brent and U.S. crude, while Saudi Arabia reduced just slightly the price of oil it sells to Asian customers, both helping to improve sentiment.

In addition, U.S. factory orders rose in May and commodities buyers looked forward to improved oil demand for the second half of the year.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for August delivery CLQ1 settled at $96.89 a barrel, gaining $1.95, or 2.05 percent, after trading between $94.34 and $97.48, the highest for front-month NYMEX crude since June 15.

CBOT-SOYBEANS-Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures closed higher for a second straight session, led by a strong recovery in corn and wheat prices, traders said.

Gains in crude oil and precious metals also helped lift soy complex futures. Gains limited by disappointing weekly export data. USDA reported export inspections of U.S. soybeans in latest week at 4.515 million bushels, below trade estimates for 7 million to 11 million

FCPO-JAKARTA, July 5 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures traded lower in a tight trading range on Tuesday, touching a fresh eight-month low as output entered into a higher production cycle and lukewarm demand pushed prices lower.

The benchmark September crude palm oil contract KPOc3 on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed down 0.3 percent at 3,040 ringgit ($1,012) a tonne, after earlier touching a low at 3,023 ringgit.

Traded volume for the September contract was 13,871 lots of 25 tonnes each, versus 11,449 lots on Monday.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, July 5 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets retreated on Tuesday, with Indonesia and Malaysia pulling back from record highs reached the day before and Thailand dipping after the surge that followed its general election at the weekend.

Trading volume fell below 30-day average for most markets, reflecting weakness elsewhere in Asia after five consecutive days of gains.

A pick-up in demand for risky assets from last week softened on speculation about a rate rise in China this weekend, as well as a Moody's report that the scale of problem loans at local governments in China may be much bigger than thought.
The MSCI Singapore index .MISG00000PSG is 11 percent below its average.

Among actively traded stocks in Southeast Asia, Indonesia's biggest firm by market value and main vehicle distributor, Astra International ASII.JK, dropped 3.2 percent and Malaysia's Public Bank PUBM.KL 0.5 percent.

Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp OCBC.SI lost nearly 2 percent and Thai Kasikornbank KBAN.BK 1.1 percent.