* Oil and copper down 8 percent each * Gold at 7-month high on safe-haven buying (Updates with settlements in CRB, crude oil and grains) NEW YORK, Feb 17 - Energy, metals and grains prices plunged on Tuesday, sending a key commodities benchmark to 6-1/2-year lows, as investors became increasingly worried about the world's failing fight against recession. The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, which tracks commodity futures across 19 markets, fell 4.6 percent to its lowest level since June 2002 as raw materials other than gold fell with stocks. Gold prices hit 7-month highs as investors sought a safe store of value. "There's a big risk aversion play underway. A lot of people are worried about the problems in the European banking sector," said Dan Smith, a gold analyst at London's Standard Chartered. The dollar also gained from risk aversion as investors dumped the euro and other currencies for the relative safety of the U.S. currency, the world's reserve money. That put further pressure on prices of dollar-denominated commodities. Crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 8.2 percent, or $3.06, to a session low of $34.45 a barrel. It settled down 6.9 percent at $34.93. Investors worried about the demand for oil after data showed a record low in New York state's manufacturing activity and depressing economic data from around the world. "The economic outlook will continue to dominate the first half of 2009. The United States, euro zone and Japan are in synchronized recession," Harry Tchilinguirian, an oil analyst at BNP Paribas, said. NYMEX crude prices have fallen more than 70 percent from last July's record highs above $147 a barrel. Attempts by producer group OPEC to slash output and bring prices back up have only led to modest success. "OPEC supply cuts are only going to impact consuming country inventories with a lag," BNP's Tchilinguirian said. Prices of copper, the leading industrial metal, tumbled to a two-week low in New York and London. U.S. copper futures March delivery settled down 7.5 percent, or 11.55 cents, at $1.4230 a lb on NYMEX metals division COMEX. Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange (LME) ended at $3,185 a tonne, the lowest since early February, from $3,330 at the close on Monday. Stocks of copper at LME warehouses rose 3,100 tonnes to 526,425 tonnes, the highest since late 2003 and a gain of more than 50 percent since the start of the year. Copper has lost about two-thirds of its value since hitting record highs above $4 a lb on the COMEX and nearly $9,000 a tonne on the LME in July last year. "We've got to test lower now because the macro news ... seems to be getting worse," said Robin Bhar, a metals analyst for Calyon in London. "The optimism that China would come to the rescue, that the stimulus measures would help to revive sentiment ... is now beginning to fade." U.S. soybean futures also hit two-week lows, weighing on corn and wheat prices, as rains in drought-hit Argentina ended a recent run-up in grains markets. March soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 5.5 percent, or 54.25 cents, to close at $9.03 a bushel. March corn futures settled down 3.8 percent at $3.49-1/2 a bushel and March wheat fell 3.7 percent to end at $5.15-1/2 per bushel. Gold prices soared to their highest levels since July 2008 on reports that Eastern Europe would be harder hit by recession than the rest of the world. An announcement by Russia's central bank that it plans to buy more gold also boosted the market. The price of gold bullion touched a high of $973.20 an ounce, its best since July 16, Reuters price charts showed. In gold futures, COMEX's contract for April delivery jumped 3.5 percent, or $33.20, to $975.40 an ounce, a high since July 22. It settled up 2.7 percent at $967.50.

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