* FTSEurofirst 300 index down 0.5 percent

  * Banks slip after Portuguese downgrade

  * Sonova drops after its cuts outlook

  * For up-to-the minute market news, click on

 

  By Joanne Frearson

  LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - European shares retreated on Wednesday, with banks leading the falls after Moody's downgraded Portuguese debt overnight and as uncertainty persisted over whether Japan can contain its nuclear disaster.

  By 1016 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 0.5 percent at 1,079.25 points after ending at a 3-1/2 month closing low on Tuesday on Japanese nuclear concerns.

  The index hovered near its 200-day moving average, having breached it in the previous session, which is a sell-signal for equities.

  Volume was at 41.4 percent of its 90-day average.

  Banks were the worst performers after Moody's downgraded Portugal's sovereign debt rating by two notches to A3, raising concern about the health of the peripheral eurozone countries.

  The STOXX Europe 600 Banks was down 1.5 percent, with Intesa Sanpaolo, BBVA and UniCredit 2 to 2.6 percent lower.

  Some fund managers said there were still bargains to be had.

  " Yesterday investors were taking risk off the table, now it is time to look at fundamentals and how badly they will be impacted by the events," Andy Lynch, who managers 2.5 billion euros ($3.50 billion) for Schroders said.

  " We have added to the Germany chip equipment maker Aixtron as it has been heavily sold-off and LED manufacturing is unlikely to be impacted."

  The STOXX Europe 600 Technology index turned 0.3 percent lower, having earlier being among the best performers.

  Aixtron was up 1 percent, while Software AG was 3.4 percent higher after UBS upgraded it to " buy" from " hold" .

  Elsewhere, the utility sector edged higher, with the STOXX Europe 600 Utilities gaining 0.3 percent.

  E.ON and RWE rose 1 percent and 0.4 percent respectively, with Deutsche Bank saying in a note the market had overreacted.

 

  SONOVA FALLS

  Swiss hearing aid maker Sonova dropped 15.3 percent after it cuts its year outlook for the year.

  Despite the rally the prevailing sentiment of the market was weak and concerns persisted in the Middle East, with Bahraini security forces cracking down on protesters.

  " Other fear in the market is not only the reactor in Japan but also the events that you saw in Bahrain this morning. The threat of contamination in Japan is still hurting investor confidence," a London equity trader says.

  " It's a much faster market than we saw last month and I still think that as long as we get clarifications from the Japanese that the reactors are contained, you will see an equal flow of money back out of fixed income and back into equities again."

  Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 0.7 percent, Germany's DAX was down 0.3 and France's CAC 40 was down 0.8 percent. (Reporting by Joanne Frearson Editing by Louise Heavens) ($1=.7152 Euro)

By Shinichi Saoshiro and Chisa Fujioka

  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's nuclear crisis appeared to be spinning out of control on Wednesday after workers withdrew briefly from a stricken power plant because of surging radiation levels and a helicopter failed to drop water on the most troubled reactor.

  Early in the day another fire broke out at the earthquake-crippled facility, which has sent low levels of radiation wafting into Tokyo in the past 24 hours, triggering fear in the capital and international alarm.

  Japan's government said radiation levels outside the plant's gates were stable but, in a sign of being overwhelmed, appealed to private companies to help deliver supplies to tens of thousands of people evacuated from around the complex.

  " People would not be in immediate danger if they went outside with these levels. I want people to understand this," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a televised news conference, referring to people living outside a 30 km (18 miles) exclusion zone. Some 140,000 people inside the zone have been told to stay indoors.

  Workers were trying to clear debris to build a road so fire trucks could reach reactor No. 4 at the Daiichi complex in Fukushima, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo. Flames were no longer visible at the building housing the reactor.

  High radiation levels prevented a helicopter from flying to the site to drop water into the No. 3 reactor -- whose roof was damaged by an earlier explosion and where steam was seen rising earlier in the day -- to try to cool its fuel rods.

  The plant operator described No. 3 as the " priority." No more information was available, but that reactor is the only one at Daiichi which uses plutonium in its fuel mix.

  According to U.S. government research, plutonium is very toxic to humans and once absorbed in the bloodstream can linger for years in bone marrow or liver and can lead to cancer

  The situation at No. 4 reactor, where the fire broke out, was " not so good," the plant operator added, while water was being poured into reactors No. 5 and 6, indicating the entire six-reactor facility was now at risk of overheating.

  Nuclear experts said the solutions being proposed to quell radiation leaks at the complex were last-ditch efforts to stem what could well be remembered as one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

  " This is a slow-moving nightmare," said Dr Thomas Neff, a physicist and uranium-industry analyst at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  Japanese Emperor Akihito, delivering a rare video message to his people, said he was deeply worried by the country's nuclear crisis which was " unprecedented in scale."

  " I hope from the bottom of my heart that the people will, hand in hand, treat each other with compassion and overcome these difficult times," the emperor said.

  Panic over the economic impact of last Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami knocked $620 billion (386 billion pounds) off Japan's stock market over the first two days of this week, but the Nikkei index rebounded on Wednesday to end up 5.68 percent.

  Nevertheless, estimates of losses to Japanese output from damage to buildings, production and consumer activity ranged from between 10 and 16 trillion yen (77-123 billion pounds), up to one-and-a-half times the economic losses from the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake.

  Damage to Japan's manufacturing base and infrastructure is also threatening significant disruption to the global supply chain, particularly in the technology and auto sectors.

  Scores of flights to Japan have been halted or rerouted and air travellers are avoiding Tokyo for fear of radiation. On Wednesday, both France and Australia urged their nationals in Japan to leave the country as authorities grappled with the world's most serious nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.

  The plight of hundreds of thousands left homeless by the quake and devastating tsunami that followed worsened overnight following a cold snap that brought snow to some of the worst-affected areas.

  While the death toll stands at around 4,000, more than 7,000 are listed as missing and the figure is expected to rise.

  At the Fukushima plant, authorities have spent days desperately trying to prevent water which is designed to cool the radioactive cores of the reactors from evaporating, which would lead to overheating and possibly a dangerous meltdown.

  Until the heightened alarm about No.3 reactor, concern had centred on damage to a part of the No.4 reactor building where spent rods were being stored in pools of water, and also to part of the No.2 reactor that helps to cool and trap the majority of cesium, iodine and strontium in its water.

  Japanese officials said they were talking to the U.S. military about possible help at the plant.

  Concern has mounted that the skeleton crews dealing with the crisis might not be big enough or were exhausted after working for days since the earthquake damaged the facility. Authorities withdrew 750 workers on Tuesday, leaving only 50.

  All those remaining were pulled out for almost an hour on Wednesday because radiation levels were too high, but they were later allowed to return.

  Arnie Gundersen, a 39-year veteran of the nuclear industry, now chief engineer at Fairwinds Associates Inc and who worked on reactor designs similar to Daiichi plant, said 50 or so people could not babysit six nuclear plants.

  " That evacuation (of 750 workers) is a sign they may be throwing in the towel," Gundersen said.

  RADIATION IN TOKYO NOT A THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH

  In the first hint of international frustration at the pace of updates from Japan, Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he wanted more timely and detailed information.

  " We do not have all the details of the information so what we can do is limited," Amano told a news conference in Vienna. " I am trying to further improve the communication."

  Several experts said the Japanese authorities were underplaying the severity of the incident, particularly on a scale called INES used to rank nuclear incidents. The Japanese have so far rated the accident a four on a one-to-seven scale, but that rating was issued on Saturday and since then the situation has worsened dramatically.

  France's nuclear safety authority ASN said on Tuesday it should be classed as a level-six incident.

  Officials in Tokyo said radiation in the capital was 10 times normal at one point but not a threat to human health in the sprawling high-tech city of 13 million people.

  Levels in Ibaraki, north of Tokyo, were 300 times normal, Kyodo news agency said, but still well below hazardous levels.

  Many Tokyo residents stayed indoors. Public transport and the streets were as deserted as they would be on a public holiday, and many shops and offices were closed.

  Winds over the plant were forecast to blow from the northwest during Wednesday, which would take radiation towards the Pacific Ocean.

  " WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

  Japanese media have became more critical of Kan's handling of the disaster and criticised the government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. for their failure to provide enough information on the incident.

  " This government is useless," Masako Kitajima, a Tokyo office worker in her 50s, said as radiation levels ticked up in the city.

  Kan himself lambasted the operator for taking so long to inform his office about one of the blasts on Tuesday. A Kyodo news agency reporter quoted the prime minister demanding the power company executives: " What the hell is going on?."

  Nuclear radiation is an especially sensitive issue for Japanese following the country's worst human catastrophe -- the U.S. atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

  The full extent of the destruction was slowly becoming clear as rescuers combed through the tsunami-torn region north of Tokyo where officials say at least 10,000 people were killed.

  Whole villages and towns have been wiped off the map by the wall of water, triggering an international humanitarian effort of epic proportions.

  There have been hundreds of aftershocks and more than two dozen were greater than magnitude 6, the size of the earthquake that severely damaged Christchurch, New Zealand, last month.

  About 850,000 households in the north were still without electricity in near-freezing weather, Tohuku Electric Power Co. said, and the government said at least 1.5 million households lack running water. Tens of thousands of people were missing.

  (Additional reporting by Nathan Layne, Linda Sieg, Risa Maeda, Isabel Reynolds, Dan Sloan and Leika Kihara in Tokyo, Chris Meyers and Kim Kyung-hoon in Sendai, Taiga Uranaka and Ki Joon Kwon in Fukushima, Noel Randewich in San Francisco, and Miyoung Kim in Seoul Writing by Nick Macfie and Jason Szep Editing by John Chalmers and Dean Yates)

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - The Libyan army told people in Benghazi to lay down their arms on Wednesday as its troops advanced closer to the rebel stronghold for what could be the decisive battle in the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi.

  Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, speaking to French-based TV channel Euronews, said his troops were near Benghazi and " everything will be over in 48 hours."

  The town of Ajbadiyah, 150 km (90 miles) south of Benghazi on the Gulf of Sirte, was firmly in government hands after most of its rebel defenders retreated under fire from a withering artillery barrage on Tuesday. Those who stayed had now handed over their guns, a rebel officer said.

  In Benghazi, seat of the insurgents' provisional national council, the mood was a mixture of defiance and nervousness, with some citizens predicting a bloodbath and others confident the rebels would still snatch victory against the government offensive.

  Forces loyal to Gaddafi have retaken a string of coastal towns in the past 11 days, reversing gains made by the rebel army early in the uprising against his 41-year-rule of the North African country. Important oil industry facilities are now mostly back under government control.

  An armed forces statement read on state television described the offensive as a humanitarian operation to save the people of " beloved Benghazi" and said troops would not take revenge on them if they surrendered.

  " Advise your duped sons to hand over their weapons to the armed forces or the People's Leadership and they will be covered by an amnesty requested by the Commander (Gaddafi), which will be valid for any person who hands over his weapon to the armed forces and refrains from resistance and subversion," it said.

  Benghazi residents said they had found leaflets scattered in the streets also telling them they would not be punished if they gave up the fight.

  Repeating assertions by Gaddafi, the leaflets said the rebels were linked to al Qaeda militants or high on drugs.

  Saif al-Islam scoffed at the protracted discussions among world powers to impose a no-fly zone over Libya.

  " The military operations are finished. In 48 hours everything will be over. Our forces are close to Benghazi. Whatever decision is taken, it will be too late," he told Euronews.

  Aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres said the violence had forced it to withdraw its staff from Benghazi.

  " Security conditions have made it effectively impossible for medical teams to travel safely to areas where the fighting has created the greatest need," it said.

  A former government official who lives in Benghazi, Salah Ben-Saud, was more upbeat, saying life in the port city was normal.

  " There were rumours that he (Gaddafi) would try to take back Benghazi and that made people a bit nervous, but he didn't and people here don't think he would succeed anyway if he tried," he told Reuters.

  DESERT OPTIONS

  However, he was under the impression that rebels had retaken Ajdabiyah, although sources there said that was not so.

  Adel Yahya, a former rebel fighter, speaking by telephone from Ajdabiyah, said the army was in control there.

  " I went out and told them I had a rifle and gave to them. We gave our guns to them, and they said you should come out and celebrate for Gaddafi. We lost, we lost," he said, breaking into tears.

  The rebel army, made up largely of young volunteers with little training and defectors from the government military, has been overwhelmed by the artillery, tanks and warplanes of Gaddafi's troops.

  The capture of the junction town of Ajdabiyah gives the government army several options in a region where British forces led by Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery battled German soldiers commanded by General Erwin Rommel in World War Two.

  As well as heading north up the coastal highway to Benghazi, they could strike east thought the desert to Tobruk 400 km (250 km) to isolate the rebel capital.

  The rebel army, made up largely of young volunteers with little training and defectors from the government military, have been overwhelmed by their foes' artillery, tanks and warplanes.

  On the road between Tobruk and the Egyptian border crossing of Salum, rebels manned several checkpoints. The border was also under their control, a Reuters reporter said.

  Anti-Gaddafi graffiti was daubed the walls. " Welcome to the New Libya" one slogan said.

  Hundreds of people gathered inside halls at the border. Migrants from Mali, Syria, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Chad, and Sudan, were still stranded and waiting for help to get back home.

  " We were accused of being mercenaries in Libya. We have been threatened and some people were killed," said Hussein Salah, 32 a migrant construction worker from Chad said.

  Rana Gaber of the International Organisation for Migration, said about 2,000 migrants remained at the frontier.

  " The situation is getting better so far. Thousands of migrants have already been returned to their home country," Gaber said, but added that many were frustrated with the poor shelter and food quality.

  (Reporting by a Reuters correspondent in Benghazi, Additional reporting by Tom Pfeiffer and Mohammed Abbas in Tobruk, Alex Dziadosz on the border, and Daniel Flynn in Paris Writing by Angus MacSwan in Cairo Editing by Giles Elgood)

By Shinichi Saoshiro

  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Emperor Akihito made an unprecedented televised address to his disaster-stricken nation on Wednesday, expressing deep worry about the crisis at damaged nuclear reactors and urging people to lend each other a helping hand in difficult times.

  Looking sombre and stoic, the 77-year-old Akihito said the problems at Japan's nuclear-power reactors, where authorities are battling to prevent a catastrophe, were unpredictable after an earthquake he described as " unprecedented in scale."

  TV stations interrupted coverage to carry the emperor's first public appearance since last week's massive earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people.

  " I am deeply hurt by the grievous situation in the affected areas. The number of deceased and missing increases by the day and we cannot know how many victims there will be. My hope is that as many people possible are found safe," Akihito said.

  " I hope from the bottom of my heart that the people will, hand in hand, treat each other with compassion and overcome these difficult times," he said, urging survivors not to " abandon hope."

  Japan is reeling from what Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called its worst crisis since the end of World War Two, when the country had to rebuild from its devastating defeat.

  For elderly Japanese at least, the sudden message from the emperor doubtless called to mind the August 15, 1945, radio broadcast by his father, Emperor Hirohito, announcing the country's surrender in World War Two.

  That was the first time the emperor's voice had been heard on radio and his use of formal court language meant most of those listening could not understand what he was saying.

  CONSOLING THE PUBLIC

  " This earthquake was worse than the Great Kanto Earthquake (in 1923) ... It's never been experienced before," said Miiko Kodama, an expert in media studies. " This is a symbol of that."

  She added: " Of course, nothing changes as a result of his message, but for those who believe in the emperor, they will be encouraged."

  Conservative Japanese revere the emperor, others feel a fond affection, and still others find the royal family irrelevant.

  The plight of hundreds of thousands left homeless by the quake and tsunami that followed worsened overnight after a cold snap brought snow to some of the worst-stricken areas. The death toll stands at 4,000, but more than 7,000 are listed as missing and the figure is expected to rise.

  Akihito said he was " deeply worried" about the situation at the Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, where workers were trying to contain the world's worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.

  The emperor and Empress Michiko have long played a role comforting the public in tough times, visiting the survivors of the massive quake that killed 6,400 people in the western port of Kobe in 1995.

  Akihito, who ascended the throne after the death of his father in 1989, has striven to draw the imperial family closer to the people in image, if not in fact.

  In a sharp break with tradition, he was the first heir to marry a commoner.

  Akihito gives pre-recorded news conferences on set occasions such as his birthday and before overseas trips, but the suddenness of the message, its simultaneous airing on nationwide TV and its content were unprecedented.

  The Imperial Household Agency, which manages the royals' affairs, said in a statement on Monday that the royal couple wanted to visit the quake-hit sites but felt that efforts should focus on rescue for now.

  (Additional reporting by Chisa Fujioka, Writing by Linda Sieg Editing by Nick Macfie)

* GS Caltex to supply 1.5 mln bbls oil products to JX NOE

  * SK Energy to buy 2 mln bbls crude from Japan's JX NOE

  * SK Energy to supply 260,000 barrels gasoline to JX NOE

  * Hyundai Oilbank to supply 300,000 bbls jet fuel, kerosene

  (Recasts lead, adds GS Caltex, S-Oil, Hyundai Oilbank)

  By Cho Mee-young

  SEOUL, March 16 (Reuters) - South Korea's four oil refiners, the world's sixth-largest in capacity, aims to supply more than 2 million barrels of oil products sought by Japan to plug an output gap after last week's killer earthquake and tsunami.

  Top Korean refiner SK Energy would also buy crude oil from Japan as its neighbour grapples with the loss of about a third of its 4.5 million barrel-per-day (bpd) refining capacity due to the country's worst quake on record.

  These are part of efforts by Japanese refiners, trading firms and utilities to secure alternative supplies of oil products and liquefied natural gas (LNG), while steel mills are diverting metallurgical coal to other countries due to plant outages and port disruptions caused by Friday's quake.

  The supply diversion from South Korea comes as regional diesel, jet fuel and fuel oil markets are supported by expectations of stronger demand for utility fuel in Japan to replace the loss of nuclear power and refining production, coming on the back of fears over Middle East tensions.

  The earthquake that struck the world's third-largest economy and oil consumer also caused the loss of around 9,700 megawatts (MW) of nuclear and 10,831 MW of thermal power generation, even as Japan's nuclear crisis appeared to be spinning out of control as radiation levels surged on Wednesday.

  Second-largest refiner GS Caltex said on Wednesday that JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, Japan's top refiner, had asked for 1.0 million to 1.5 million barrels of oil products including gasoline, naphtha, fuel oil and diesel. Similar requests have been made by Japanese trading houses including Mitsubishi Corp .

  GS Caltex plans to ship 500,000 barrels this month and another 1 million barrels next month, a company official said.

  The four Korean refiners, with production capacity of nearly 2.9 million bpd, have declined to disclose the terms of the oil product supply deals with Japan, saying details have yet to be worked out.

  But industry sources said that in a strengthening regional market, it was not difficult to make a profit.

  " I think they will supply oil products at market prices, as it is more important for Japan to find the products than care for money," said Lee In-jae, senior oil analyst at KB Investment & Securities.

 

  SK Innovation , which owns SK Energy, said it had agreed to buy 2.0 million barrels of Middle East crude oil from JX Holdings , which owns JX Nippon Oil & Energy, while considering more crude purchases from Japan.

  SK Energy is set to receive the crude, worth $200 million, at the South Korean port of Ulsan from Middle East producers.

  However, further sales volumes of crude feedstock from JX Holdings are not immediately clear, as it aims to restart its 270,000-bpd Negishi refinery near Tokyo as early as next week, after the plant ceased operations after the quake.

  But it will take time to prepare for the restart of other refineries affected by the quake in Sendai and Kashima in northern Japan, the company said.

  SK Energy will also supply 260,000 barrels of gasoline to Japan, or about a quarter of the country's daily consumption, by early April under a deal with JX Holdings, SK Innovation said.

  " We have a shortage of crude oil storage facilities and all of our products have been contracted for exports, but we decided to work with Japan's request to help them recover from the quake," SK Innovation said in a statement.

 

  SUPPLY TO JAPAN FIRST

  SK Innovation will also supply 10,000 tonnes of fuel oil for power generation to a Japanese utility and fuel for fishing ships as requested by a Japanese fishery association, the company said.

  The smallest Korean refiner, Hyundai Oilbank, said it would supply a combination of 300,000 barrels of jet fuel and kerosene by April as sought by Japanese refiner Cosmo Oil Co .

  An official at S-Oil said South Korea's third-largest refiner has also received emergency supply requests from Japanese refiners, which they were considering positively.

  In their discussions, the South Korean government has considered ways to cooperate with Japan over its energy supplies, including LNG swap transactions.

 

  Korea South-East Power is also considering taking 70,000 tonnes of Canadian coal that J-Power is unable to use, under a swap deal which the Korean utility would later pay back with coal, and that neither side would attempt to profit. (Editing by Ramthan Hussain)

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at a security compound in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing two Palestinian militants, Hamas and Palestinian medical officials said.

  The Israeli military confirmed it had struck a militant target in the coastal territory in response to a rocket fired at Israel earlier, which caused no casualties.

  Hamas officials and medics said both men killed were security guards at the compound. Hamas's armed wing said both were members of it.

  The strike was carried out a day after Israeli commandos seized a cargo ship in the Mediterranean carrying what Israel said were Iranian-supplied arms destined for Gaza.

  An Israeli military official said 60 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israel from Gaza this year.

  (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan editing by Mark Trevelyan)

* Bottom of 3,250 ringgit seen for palm oil -traders

  * Japan nuclear crisis pushes investors away from commods (Updates throughout, adds comment/detail)

  By Michael Taylor

  JAKARTA, March 16 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures shed as much as 3 percent on Wednesday, tracking other commodity prices lower as the nuclear crisis in Japan sent investors scrambling for perceived safe haven assets.

  The benchmark May 2011 crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended down at 3,347 Malaysian ringgit ($1,091) a tonne, after earlier touching a low of 3,268 ringgit.

  Prices of the vegetable oil, used in products such as food, cosmetics, tyres and biofuels, hit a near four-month low of 3,250 on Tuesday.

  " It's a sad scenario," said one trader. " There have been two attempts to recover since Friday, but the market has succumbed to selling pressure. Overnight, Chicago collapsed. It is time to form a bottom -- 3,250 should be a temporary bottom."

  Japan's nuclear crisis appeared to be spinning out of control on Wednesday after workers withdrew briefly from a stricken power plant because of surging radiation levels, but desperate efforts to avert a catastrophic meltdown quickly resumed.

  Japan's Nikkei average jumped 5.7 percent on Wednesday as hedge funds rushed to cover short positions in futures after the worst two-day rout since the 1987 crash, even as the ongoing nuclear reactor crisis left the market vulnerable to another wave of selling.

  " There has been a lot of unwinding of long positions in soft commodities because of the earthquake in Japan," said a palm oil analyst. " Risk aversion, and the need to raise cash."

  " (Palm oil) supplies should pick up in April and increase in the second half," he added. " But this recent Japan quake has in the short-term, made people scramble back to safer assets."

  Traded volume on the Malaysian benchmark stood at a near three-week high at 25,206 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared 18,601 lots notched on Tuesday.

  ICDX's May CPO futures contract was at 9,825 rupiah per kg, compared to 9,690 rupiah per kg when it opened. Market volume was 789 lots of 10 tonnes each.

  Japan imports around 500,000 tonnes of palm oil each year. Global palm oil production was about 45 million tonnes in 2010.

  In comparable vegetable oil markets, the most-active September 2011 soyoil on the Dalian Commodity Exchange traded at 9,806 yuan versus 9,700 yuan.

  Corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade ended Tuesday at their maximum daily trading limit of 30 cents, or 4.5 percent, at $6.36 per bushel, the lowest close since Jan 12.

  Brent crude rose by more than $2 to touch $110.54 a barrel on Wednesday after Bahraini security forces cleared protestors from an area of Manama.

  Palm oil is seen heading for record highs in 2011 on expectations that costly crude oil would bolster biodiesel demand and offset better harvests, participants at a conference in Malaysia said this month.

  " CPO's biodiesel potential has barely been touched as yet," said Gary Mead, editor of Worldcrops.com. " Crude oil prices are destined to be much higher this year, despite Japan.

  " Japan is going to need to import a lot of diesel this year as a consequence of the disaster there," he added. " European refiners are struggling to cope with European demand for diesel and diesel prices will go higher, hence pulling up demand for biodiesel."

  Palm, soy and crude oil prices at 1013 GMT Contract            Last  Net chg  Settle Open  High Low  Volume PALM OIL APR1  3400  -28.00      3428  3338 3410  3325  1077 PALM OIL MAY1  3368  -17.00      3385  3315 3383  3290  7274 PALM OIL JUN1  3347  -32.00      3379  3292  3363  3268 25206 PALM OIL JUL1  3332  -32.00      3364  3275 3341  3252  3578 CBOT soyoil*  54.07  + 1.21    52.88 N/A 54.18 52.73    N/A NYMEX crude** 98.55  + 1.37  97.18  N/A 98.84 96.22    N/A Palm oil prices in Malaysian ringgit per tonne * Soy oil in U.S. cents per pound ** Crude in USD per barrel ($1 = 3.067 Malaysian ringgits) (Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

* Singapore turns round after Tuesday's fall to 7-month low

  * Resource shares in demand again

  * For all index moves, see table at end

  By Viparat Jantraprap

  BANGKOK, March 16 (Reuters) - Major Southeast Asian stock markets edged higher on Wednesday despite continuing worries over Japan's nuclear problems, with investors buying companies that depend on the domestic economy and selected power firms.

  The potential impact of the Japanese earthquake on regional economies meant trading was generally moderate, with turnover on most markets slightly lower than the 30-day average.

  Singapore's share index climbed 0.9 percent. It had suffered losses of more than 4 percent in the previous three sessions, among Southeast Asia's worst hit markets.

  " There has been just a minor pull-out of foreign funds from equities to bonds in this region. On our side, we actually had programme buys from foreigners this morning," said an equities trader in Kuala Lumpur.

  Broker Citi also said in a research note that the risk of portfolio outflows and repatriation to Japan looked low for Asia, with the region taking only a very small share of Japan's outward portfolio investment in the past few years.

  Asian financial markets in general rallied on Wednesday, with Tokyo stocks rebounding 5.7 percent after a steep two-day sell-off. The MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1 percent by 0929 GMT and the MSCI index of emerging market stocks 0.90 percent.

  Among advancers, Thai PTT Aromatics and Refining, an integrated complex refinery and aromatics producer, rose 1.4 percent, Malaysia's Shell Refining gained 0.8 percent and Indonesian coal miner Harum Energy climbed 1.7 percent.

  Casino operator Genting Singapore rose 1.6 percent, with investors taking the view that visitors from Malaysia, China, Thailand and India would cushion any loss of Japanese clients.

  Harry Su, head of reseach at PT Bahana Securities in Jakarta, was optimistic on the Indonesian stock market as the local economy had a large contribution from domestic consumption.

  " This can act as a shield against external volatilities ... We advise investors to seek shelter in domestic stocks," he said.

  Among his top picks, pharmaceuticals firm PT Kalbe Farma rose 1.7 percent and PT Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur, the world's top noodle maker, surged 3.7 percent. (Editing by Alan Raybould)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Following are travel warnings from several countries following an earthquake and tsunami and subsequent crisis at a nuclear power complex.

  * Denotes new or updated item:

  * AUSTRALIA:

  -- Australia has upgraded its travel warning for Japan, with Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd urging its citizens with non-essential roles in Japan to consider leaving Tokyo and the eight prefectures most damaged by the earthquake and tsunami.

  Rudd said the advice was due to problems with Japan's infrastructure, such as its power and water supplies and transport system, and was not related to concerns with Japan's nuclear reactors.

  " Given all these problems with, frankly, just basic infrastructure on the ground and water supply questions and food distribution questions that if your presence is not essential than you should consider, if you're in Tokyo or in those affected prefectures, departing those locations," Rudd told Australian television.

  The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said 94 Australians remained unaccounted for in the areas worst affected by the quake and tsunami.

  BRITAIN:

  -- Britain's Foreign Office advised against all non-essential travel to Tokyo and the northeast of Japan.

  " We are actively monitoring the situation at nuclear facilities and urge British nationals to observe the advice being given by Japanese authorities, including the 20km exclusion zone around the Fukushima facility and to remain indoors, keep windows and doors closed and not use ventilation if you are between 20km and 30km from the facility," the British embassy in Tokyo said on its website.

  CANADA:

  -- Canada warned its citizens to avoid all travel within 20 km (12 miles) of the Fukushima nuclear power Plant, and to avoid non-essential travel to areas of northern Japan that were near the quake and hit by the subsequent tsunami.

  -- Canadians were also warned to " exercise a high degree of caution" in travelling to the Tokyo region because of damage suffered by its transportation, power and telecommunication systems.

  CROATIA:

  -- Croatia recommended that citizens postpone any journeys to Japan. It advised Croatian citizens currently in Japan not to travel to the areas affected by the disaster and to remain in contact with the embassy in Tokyo for further notice.

  FRANCE:

  -- The French embassy in Tokyo urged its citizens in Tokyo to leave the country or head to southern Japan. It said it had asked Air France to mobilise planes for the evacuation of French nationals from Japan, and two were already on their way.

  GERMANY:

  -- The foreign ministry advised Germans to consider if their travel to the Yokohama/Tokyo region was necessary.

  -- " Given the current situation, the foreign ministry warns against staying in the crisis region and advises all Germans near nuclear plants or in the greater Tokyo/Yokohama area to consider whether staying in Japan is necessary," it said on its website.

  NEW ZEALAND:

  -- Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to advise avoiding all non-essential travel to Tokyo and the affected north-east regions.

  " There is a high risk to your safety in prefectures in Japan affected by the earthquake and tsunami and we advise against all tourist and non-essential travel to those affected areas in the north east of Japan until the situation becomes clear," the New Zealand embassy in Tokyo said on its website.

  The PHILIPPINES

  -- The Philippines has advised people to defer non-essential travel to Japan, but had not issued a travel ban.

  " Our fear is that they will be stranded there," Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis told reporters. " There are still aftershocks and there is this nuclear meltdown threat. We are asking them to postpone their trip if not necessary."

  The government is not evacuating citizens from Japan.

  The Department of Foreign Affairs says there are more than 200,000 Filipinos in Japan, including about 4,500 in the worst-affected area.

  SLOVAKIA:

  -- Slovakia has recommended not to travel to affected regions in Japan and delay planned trips to other regions, including Tokyo.

  SLOVENIA:

  -- Slovenia has warned its nationals not to travel to Japan unless necessary.

  -- " We advise against any non-urgent travels to the troubled areas of Japan. To those Slovenian citizens that cannot postpone their travel to Japan, we advise extreme caution and additional checking of conditions in areas to which they are travelling," the foreign ministry said on its website.

  SOUTH KOREA:

  -- The South Korean foreign ministry has issued a travel advisory for Japan. It advised against travel to the Fukushima area and other areas north of Tokyo.

  TAIWAN:

  -- Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued its highest level of warning for 13 Japanese prefectures in view of potential widespread radiation release.

  TURKEY:

  -- Turkey's Foreign Ministry has warned Turkish citizens against travelling to Japan following the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.

  " It is recommended that our citizens postpone their travel to Japan at this stage if it is not essential," the ministry said in a statement.

  UNITED STATES:

  -- The U.S. State Department urged U.S. citizens to avoid tourism and non-essential travel to Japan at this time and also requests all non-essential official U.S. government personnel defer travel to Japan.

By Shinichi Saoshiro and Chisa Fujioka

  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's nuclear crisis appeared to be spinning out of control on Wednesday after workers withdrew briefly from a stricken power plant because of surging radiation levels, but desperate efforts to avert a catastrophic meltdown quickly resumed.

  Early in the day another fire broke out at the earthquake-crippled facility, which has sent low levels of radiation wafting into Tokyo in the past 24 hours, triggering fear in the capital and international alarm.

  Workers were trying to clear debris to build a road so that fire trucks could reach reactor No. 4 at the Daiichi complex in Fukushima, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo. Flames were no longer visible at the building housing the reactor, but TV pictures showed rising smoke or steam.

  A helicopter flew to the site to drop water into the No. 3 reactor -- whose roof was damaged by an earlier explosion and where steam was seen rising earlier in the day -- to try to cool its fuel rods.

  The plant operator described No. 3 as the " priority" and said the situation at No. 4, where the fire broke out, as " not so good."

  Nuclear experts said the solutions being proposed to quell radiation leaks at the complex were last-ditch efforts to stem what could well be remembered as one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

  " This is a slow-moving nightmare," said Dr Thomas Neff, a research affiliate at the Centre for International Studies, which is part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  Japanese Emperor Akihito, delivering a rare video message to his people, said he was deeply worried by the country's nuclear crisis which was " unprecedented in scale."

  " I hope from the bottom of my heart that the people will, hand in hand, treat each other with compassion and overcome these difficult times," the emperor said.

  Panic over the economic impact of last Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami knocked $620 billion (386 billion pounds) off Japan's stock market over the first two days of this week, but the Nikkei index rebounded on Wednesday to end up 5.68 percent.

  Nevertheless, estimates of losses to Japanese output from damage to buildings, production and consumer activity ranged from between 10 and 16 trillion yen (77-123 billion pounds), up to one-and-a-half times the economic losses from the devastating 1995 Kobe earthquake.

  Damage to Japan's manufacturing base and infrastructure is also threatening significant disruption to the global supply chain, particularly in the technology and auto sectors.

  Scores of flights to Japan have been halted or rerouted, air travellers are avoiding Tokyo for fear of radiation, and on Wednesday both France and Australia urged their nationals in Japan to leave the country.

  The plight of hundreds of thousands left homeless by the quake and devastating tsunami that followed worsened overnight following a cold snap that brought snow to some of the worst-affected areas.

  While the death toll stands at around 4,000, more than 7,000 are listed as missing and the figure is expected to rise.

  At the Fukushima plant, authorities have spent days desperately trying to prevent water which is designed to cool the radioactive cores of the reactors from evaporating, which would lead to overheating and possibly a dangerous meltdown.

  Concern now centres on damage to a part of the No.4 reactor building where spent rods were being stored in pools of water, and also to part of the No.2 reactor that helps to cool and trap the majority of cesium, iodine and strontium in its water.

  Japanese officials said they were talking to the U.S. military about possible help at the plant.

  Concern mounted earlier that the skeleton crews dealing with the crisis might not be big enough or were exhausted after working for days since the earthquake damaged the facility. Authorities withdrew 750 workers on Tuesday, leaving only 50.

  All those remaining were pulled out for almost an hour on Wednesday because radiation levels were too high, but they were later allowed to return.

  Arnie Gundersen, a 39-year veteran of the nuclear industry, now chief engineer at Fairwinds Associates Inc and who worked on reactor designs similar to Daiichi plant, said 50 or so people could not babysit six nuclear plants.

  " That evacuation (of 750 workers) is a sign they may be throwing in the towel," Gundersen said.

  RADIATION IN TOKYO NOT A THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH

  In the first hint of international frustration at the pace of updates from Japan, Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he wanted more timely and detailed information.

  " We do not have all the details of the information so what we can do is limited," Amano told a news conference in Vienna. " I am trying to further improve the communication."

  Several experts said the Japanese authorities were underplaying the severity of the incident, particularly on a scale called INES used to rank nuclear incidents. The Japanese have so far rated the accident a four on a one-to-seven scale, but that rating was issued on Saturday and since then the situation has worsened dramatically.

  France's nuclear safety authority ASN said on Tuesday it should be classed as a level-six incident.

  Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Tuesday urged people within 30 km (18 miles) of the facility -- a population of 140,000 -- to remain indoors, as authorities grappled with the world's most serious nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.

  Officials in Tokyo said radiation in the capital was 10 times normal at one point but not a threat to human health in the sprawling high-tech city of 13 million people.

  Levels in Ibaraki, north of Tokyo, were 300 times normal, Kyodo news agency said, but still well below hazardous levels, but nerves were shaken in the capital by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake that shook buildings.

  Many Tokyo residents stayed indoors. Public transport and the streets were as deserted as they would be on a public holiday, and many shops and offices were closed.

  Winds over the plant were forecast to blow from the northwest during Wednesday, which would take radiation towards the Pacific Ocean.

  Fears of trans-Pacific nuclear fallout sent consumers scrambling for radiation antidotes in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Canada. Authorities warned that people would expose themselves to other medical problems by needlessly taking potassium iodide in the hope of protection from cancer.

  " WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

  Japanese media have became more critical of Kan's handling of the disaster and criticised the government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. for their failure to provide enough information on the incident.

  " This government is useless," Masako Kitajima, a Tokyo office worker in her 50s, said as radiation levels ticked up in the city.

  Kan himself lambasted the operator for taking so long to inform his office about one of the blasts on Tuesday. A Kyodo news agency reporter quoted the prime minister demanding the power company executives: " What the hell is going on?."

  Nuclear radiation is an especially sensitive issue for Japanese following the country's worst human catastrophe -- the U.S. atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

  The full extent of the destruction was slowly becoming clear as rescuers combed through the tsunami-torn region north of Tokyo where officials say at least 10,000 people were killed.

  Whole villages and towns have been wiped off the map by the wall of water, triggering an international humanitarian effort of epic proportions.

  There have been hundreds of aftershocks and more than two dozen were greater than magnitude 6, the size of the earthquake that severely damaged Christchurch, New Zealand, last month.

  About 850,000 households in the north were still without electricity in near-freezing weather, Tohuku Electric Power Co. said, and the government said at least 1.5 million households lack running water. Tens of thousands of people were missing.

  Broadcaster NHK offered tips on how to stay warm, for instance by wrapping your abdomen in newspaper and clingfilm, and how to boil water using empty aluminium cans and candles.

  (Additional reporting by Nathan Layne, Linda Sieg, Risa Maeda, Isabel Reynolds, Dan Sloan and Leika Kihara in Tokyo, Chris Meyers and Kim Kyung-hoon in Sendai, Taiga Uranaka and Ki Joon Kwon in Fukushima, Noel Randewich in San Francisco, and Miyoung Kim in Seoul Writing by David Fox and Nick Macfie Editing by John Chalmers and Dean Yates)

HONG KONG, March 16 (Reuters) - Hong Kong stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday, with volume increasing in afternoon trade as panic selling over the ongoing Japan nuclear crisis subsided following a 2.9 percent fall in the previous session.

  The Hang Seng Index finished up 0.1 percent at 22,700.88, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.72 percent.

  The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 1.19 percent at 2,930.8. Coal and non-nuclear energy issues surged.

  HIGHLIGHTS:

  * China Mobile Ltd , the world's largest mobile operator, fell 1.66 percent and was the bigger loser on the benchmark. Despite reporting 2010 earnings that were in line with expectations, analysts warned that its growth would slow with increasing competition in the telecommunications industry.

  * Non-nuclear, alternative energy stocks surged, led by China Longyuan Power Group Corp Ltd , up 3.7 percent on Wednesday. Investors are bullish on the non-nuclear energy sector because of the ongoing Japan nuclear crisis and China's growing demand for energy.

  * Traditional energy stocks are riding this wave, with coal and gas counters among the leading gainers of the day. Hong Kong and China Gas Co Ltd rose 2.62 percent on Wednesday after the company announced strong 2010 earnings late on Tuesday. Its 2010 net profit was up 6 percent over 2009.

  DAY AHEAD:

  Traders will remain focused on developments in Japan following reports of rising radiation levls near Tokyo, despite the Nikkei rebounding 6 percent. (Reported by Clement Tan Editing by Chris Lewis)