COMMODITIES-Copper, oil tumble on economic uncertainty, dollar

* Copper has biggest fall since April
* Oil takes biggest tumble in a month
* Gold's decline sharpest since July
* Cocoa, sugar rally to buck downtrend

By Barani Krishnan
NEW YORK, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Copper had its biggest drop in
six months on Friday and oil tumbled, too, as global economic
uncertainties rose and the dollar rallied, making raw materials
priced in the currency less affordable for euro holders.
Gold was another commodity that ended lower, posting its
biggest decline in more than three months.
Cocoa, sugar and coffee -- known as soft commodities --
bucked the downtrend, surging in price after signs of improved
demand and less supply in some of the markets. Cocoa hit a
three-week high and sugar a one-week top.
The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index
settled nearly 1 percent down. For the week, it was
off just slightly, accounting for the broad run-up in prices in
three of the five sessions.
The retreat came after a report showed U.S. home resales
fell in September, a reminder that America's housing sector is a
long way from a full recovery.
Recovery prospects also look tepid in China as the No. 2
economy grapples with the slowest quarter of growth since the
depths of the global financial crisis four years ago.

Adding to the bearish sentiment was concern that both the
Europe Union and Spain were dragging their feet on a much-needed
bailout to keep Madrid finances afloat. That pushed the euro
lower to the dollar.

Commodities had a spectacular run in the third quarter as
monetary easing and other stimulus action by the U.S. Federal
Reserve and other central banks pushed prices up. Since October
when the fourth quarter began, markets have mostly struggled.

"DON'T EXPECT METALS TO RISE LIKE IN SEPT"
"We had a big rally in base metal prices going into
September on anticipation of QE3, the implementation of QE3 and
also the raft of policy initiatives announced in China and
measures taken by the ECB," said Nic Brown, head of commodities
research at Natixis.
"Just don't expect this surge in prices to be sustainable.
It was not a real reflection of improved demand in China and it
is no surprise to us that base metals prices have come off quite
significantly."
Copper, the leading base metal watched by commodity
investors, closed down 2.5 percent in London, with the benchmark
three-month futures contract ending at $8,015 a tonne.
It was the sharpest fall since early April.
U.S. copper futures' most-active contract, December,
settled 2.8 percent lower at $3.6375 a lb.

RESTART OF PIPELINE WEIGHS ON OIL
Brent crude oil fell for a fourth straight session, its
biggest one-day tumble since Sept. 23.
Economic worries aside, oil was weighed down by news that
TransCanada Corp -- operator of a major Canadian-U.S.
crude pipeline -- would restart its 590,000-barrel-per-day
Keystone pipeline after just a three-day closure. The line was
shut on Wednesday after an anomaly was detected.
"Because of the ample supplies of oil (in the United
States), a three-day closure is not extremely bullish -- if they
announce a delay that's when the market will start to get a bid
in it again," said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy
in Stamford, Connecticut.
Brent closed at $110.14 a barrel, down 2 percent on the day
and off 3.5 percent on the week. U.S. crude settled at
$90.05, down 2 percent for both the session and week.
Prices at 3:47 p.m. EDT (1947 GMT)
LAST/ NET PCT YTD
CLOSE CHG CHG CHG
US crude 90.23 -1.87 -2.0% -8.7%
Brent crude 110.15 -2.27 -2.0% 2.6%
Natural gas 3.617 0.030 0.8% 21.0%

US gold 1724.00 -20.70 -1.2% 10.0%
Gold 1720.89 -20.20 -1.2% 10.0%
US Copper 363.75 -10.55 -2.8% 5.9%
LME Copper 8015.00 -205.00 -2.5% 5.5%
Dollar 79.628 0.261 0.3% -0.7%

US corn 759.50 0.25 0.0% 17.5%
US soybeans 1536.50 -9.75 -0.6% 28.2%
US wheat 883.75 3.00 0.3% 35.4%

US Coffee 161.65 3.05 1.9% -29.2%
US Cocoa 2489.00 51.00 2.1% 18.0%
US Sugar 20.23 0.44 2.2% -12.9%

US silver 32.097 -0.771 -2.3% 15.0%
US platinum 1615.50 -28.20 -1.7% 15.0%
US palladium 623.00 -24.20 -3.7% -5.1%