Palm | Kelapa Sawit

   In a volatile session, investors looking for bargains initially bought equities, oil and gold, which have been beaten down this week by worries a Greece exit would deepen the euro zone debt crisis.  

   The appetite for growth-oriented assets faded as fears about the euro zone's drag on the world economy returned. Then for a second straight day, a wave of buying emerged shortly before Wall Street's close. 

   "The market has pulled back far enough that people are trying to assess if we've priced the worst of what's known. But with the problems in Europe and the fact the news isn't reassuring, prices are still somewhat soft," said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland.   

   Speculation of more coordinated efforts from major central banks to stem further deterioration of the euro zone debt crisis helped steady the yields on bonds of Spain, Italy and other weaker euro zone members. Still, the yields remained at levels considered unsustainable, and this moderated the safe-haven appetite for U.S. and German government debt. 

   "We are just being buffeted around by despair and hope of the possible solution to the euro zone crisis. Risk appetite is still at a very low level, but there is plenty of value," said Robert Parkes, equity strategist at HSBC in London. 

   The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 33.60 points, or 0.27 percent, at 12,529.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> finished up 1.82 points, or 0.14 percent, at 1,320.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> ended down 10.74 points, or 0.38 percent, at 2,839.38. 

   The late bounce in U.S. stocks pushed the MSCI world equity index back above 300 points. It ended up 0.3 percent following Wednesday's 1.2 percent drop.  

NYMEX - NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures rose on Thursday after Iran and major powers, unable to produce an agreement on Tehran's disputed nuclear program, ended negotiations until next month. 

    Crude prices rebounded after slumping more than 2 percent the previous session and approaching the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend, but traded within Wednesday's range. 

    Iran and world powers agreed to meet again in Moscow next month for more talks to try to end the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program, but there was scant progress to resolve the main sticking points between the two sides.

    After discussions in Baghdad extended late into an unscheduled second day between envoys from Iran and the six powers, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said it was clear both sides wanted progress and had some common ground, but significant differences remained. 

    * On the New York Mercantile Exchange, July crude   rose 76 cents, or 0.85 percent, to settle at $90.66 a  barrel, having traded from $89.81 to $91.52. 

    * China's factories faltered in May as export orders fell to two month lows, according to the HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers Index, the earliest indicator of China's industrial sector. The index fell to 48.7 in May from a final reading of 49.3 in April, marking the seventh straight month below 50, indicating contracting activity. 

    * Market supported by news the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange cut its estimate of Argentina's 2011/12 soybean crop to 39.9 million tonnes, from 41 million previously.

    * Worries about dry conditions threatening soybeans in the southern U.S. Midwest and Delta lent support. "The northwest third of the Midwest should be okay but there is dryness in the southeast that needs to be watched," said John Dee with Global Weather Monitoring. 

    * USDA reported export sales of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 953,700 tonnes (old- and new-crop years combined), below a range of trade estimates for 1 million to 1.25 million tonnes. But most of the sales -- 800,100 tonnes -- were for the old crop year, a supportive factor.    

    * USDA reported weekly export sales of U.S. soymeal at 176,600 tonnes, within the range of trade estimates for 100,000 to 200,000 tonnes. 

    * USDA reported weekly export sales of U.S. soyoil at 24,400 tonnes, above estimates for 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes. 

    * A private Chinese trading house canceled four cargoes of Brazilian soybeans due to low domestic crushing margins, but traders said the cancellations were not widespread and China was still shopping for third-quarter delivery supplies.

    * The Chinese government sold 188,410 tonnes of soy out of an offer of 605,356 tonnes of soy reserves. A majority of the sales went to crushers in the northeast, which process only domestic soybeans. 

FCPO -     SINGAPORE, May 24 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended higher on Thursday on bargain hunting after a big sell-off the previous day, although gains were curbed as fears over the euro zone crisis dampened sentiment. 

    The uncertainty surrounding the debt crisis dragged palm oil down to its lowest in 2012 on Wednesday, attracting buyers to take up the edible oil at cheaper prices. 

    Firm demand for the edible oil indicated by rising export data could also be supportive for futures prices.  

    "With the Ramadan demand coming in, most of the traders are bullish. So palm oil is still holding above 3,000 ringgit and that could be because of demand," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Singapore, referring to the Muslim fasting month.  

    The benchmark August palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange gained 1.7 percent to close at 3,069 ringgit ($975) per tonne. Prices touched a five-month low of 2,993 ringgit on Wednesday, a level not seen since Dec. 19. 

    Traded volumes stood at 40,959 lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots on increased hedging activities because of the global uncertainty. 

    Demand appeared to be firm. Cargo surveyors Intertek Testing Services and Societe Generale de Surveillance both reported a slight increase in shipments for Malaysian palm oil for May 1-20. 

    Market players will be watching exports for May 1-25 due on Friday and traders expect better numbers compared with a month ago on growing appetite for the edible oil.  

    Traders are also watching dry U.S weather that could hurt the soybean crop and the possibility of a return of the El Nino weather pattern that could damage oil palm production in Southeast Asia.  

    The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said on Tuesday that the climate models it monitors indicated a possible return of  El Nino, often linked to heavy rainfall and droughts, in the second half of 2012.

REGIONAL MARKET - BANGKOK, May 24 (Reuters) - Thai stocks bounced on the back of data showing strong lending growth for large-cap banks, but shares elsewhere in southeast Asia were mixed on Thursday as investors fretted over the wider impact of the euro zone's debt crisis.   

    The Thai main SET index <.SETI> ended up 1.36 percent at 1,125.78, after a four-day losing streak, led by gains in big banks such as Bangkok Bank Pcl . 

    Brokers said investors were also looking to buy shares at bargain prices.  

    "I think the selling here is overdone although the outlook in euro zone does not look good. I think we can bounce here from 1,100 in the near term as the SET has fallen from 1,250 to these levels without pause," said Andrew Yates, head of international equity sales at broker Asia Plus Securities.  

    "Earnings outlook in Thailand remains positive and the economy is growing again. So the fall in share prices has brought valuations down from overbought levels," he said. 

    Malaysian shares <.KLSE> also rose 0.6 percent and Indonesia's index <.JKSE> edged up 0.08 percent. 

    But Singapore's index <.FTSTI> inched down 0.03 percent, the Philippine index <.PSI> declined 0.5 percent and Vietnamese <.VNI> stocks dropped 2.3 percent.