UNITED STATES - * Oil up as much as 4 pct ahead of anticipated OPEC cut * Grains jump as much as 5 pct, bolstered by oil * Copper extends 3-year lows; softs down as dollar strong (Recasts and updates with U.S. markets' action; changes dateline, previously LONDON) By Barani Krishnan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude oil rebounded Thursday, boosting grains prices as well, as investors braced for a cut in OPEC output, while most other commodities traded down on fragile investor sentiment. Crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange, or NYMEX, rose 4 percent, recovering half of Wednesday's losses, on talk that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could cut up to 2.0 million barrels in daily output. Wheat, corn and soybean prices -- pummeled a day ago by a broad commodities sell-off -- rose up to 5.0 percent. The rebound in energy and grains helped the basket of 19 commodities tracked by the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index , to rise nearly 1.0 percent after Wednesday's loss of more than 4.0 percent, which took the index to four-year lows. But industrial metals like copper -- which analysts say reflect economic health -- extended three-year lows on more worries about the global financial crisis and whether top metals consumer China could cushion a slowdown in growth. Gold prices hit a 13-month trough as continued strength in the U.S. dollar blunted the precious metal's edge as an anti-inflation tool. The stronger dollar, which raises the carrying cost for dollar-denominated commodities, also depressed coffee and cocoa prices. "There is actually no good news coming in at all," said Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, an analyst for industrial metals at London's Barclays (nyse: BCS - news - people ) Capital. "The single most dominant factor responsible for the very negative sentiment in base metals has been concerns on the macro economic view as well as the recessionary environment we are facing," she said. NYMEX crude was up $2.66 to a session high of $69.41 a barrel by 1630 GMT. The market had lost more than $5, or 7.0 percent, on Wednesday, falling to 16-month lows after data showing piling inventories of crude oil in the United States, the world's largest consumer of energy. Oil prices have plunged more than 50 percent since hitting record highs above $147 in July. Thursday's rebound came after Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said ahead of a Friday OPEC meeting in Vienna that the group needs to cut its oil output by 2.0 million bpd. "We should hear more bullish rhetoric from oil ministers as they arrive in Vienna today," said Robert Laughlin, oil analyst at commodities broker MF Global in London. "We've had some mixed signals so far but still nothing from the Saudis who hold the key." On the Chicago Board of Trade, soybeans for November delivery rose 5.6 percent to a session high of $9.06-3/4 per bushel, wheat for December delivery gained 4.0 percent to $5.38 and December corn climbed 4.4 percent to $4.01-3/4. (Additional reporting by Anna Stablum and Ikuko Kao in London; Editing by Marguerita Choy,) (barani.krishnan@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 646 223 6192; Reuters Messaging: barani.krishnan.reuters.com@reuters.net))

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