Recession fear lingers; copper, platinum buck trend

* Oil, others mostly down on more economic woes

* Copper, platinum bucks trend on technical buying

NEW YORK, Nov 18 - Commodities were mostly down on Tuesday as fresh economic woes and weak equity markets weighed on demand for raw materials, although technical buying lifted copper and platinum prices.

"There is no doubt that we are now entering the steepest part of the global recession, as country after country reports negative readings in economic activity," said Edward Meir, energy and metals analyst at commodities broker MF Global.

The Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index, a closely tracked basket of 19 commodity futures, settled down 0.6 percent, touching its lowest levels since November 2005, tracking a 2 percent slide in U.S. stocks.

Wall Street stocks staged a rally after computer maker Hewlett-Packard reported strong results, and the Dow Jones industrial average closed up more than 150 points. But the surge came too late to affect U.S. commodity trading.

A record bottom in U.S. homebuilder sentiment weighed further on commodity markets already reeling this week after two of the world's largest economies -- Japan and Germany -- confirmed they were in recession.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson added to the negative sentiment by indicating he had no plans to use the $700 billion financial rescue fund to help ailing U.S. automakers, key users of metals like platinum and palladium, with

A stronger U.S. dollar further weakened the appetite of investors trying to purchase commodities in other currencies.

"The key question, of course, is how long the current slump will last," said MF Global's Meir.

He listed three possible scenarios: a "L"-shaped recession -- which characterized the 1990s slump of the Japanese economy, a "V"-shaped recession -- where recovery would be almost as sharp as the plunge, and an "U"-shaped recession -- where the economy recovers on a gentle trajectory after a prolonged flat period of activity.

On the energy front, crude oil on the New York Mercantile, or NYMEX, settled down 56 cents at $54.39, its lowest since January 2007.

London Brent crude lost 47 cents to end at $52.08.

NYMEX crude has dropped from record highs above $147 a barrel in July as fuel demand slid in consumer nations.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled down 1.2 percent, or $9.30, at $732.70 an ounce on the COMEX metals division of NYMEX.

But COMEX copper for December finished up 55 cents at $1.6620 a lb. Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange rose $90, or 2.5 percent, to close at $3,750 a tonne.

Traders said copper prices rebounded after hitting three-year lows earlier this week in London and New York. The red metal, used primarily in the power generation and telecommunication industries, struck record highs above $4 a lb on COMEX and nearly $9,000 tonne on the LME in July.

Platinum prices rallied after Lonmin, the world's third-biggest platinum producer, announced the closure of some high-cost mines that sparked technical buying by investors fearing a near-term shortage in the precious metal.

COMEX platinum for January settled up 2 percent, or $16.40, at $837 an ounce.

Spot platinum was at $824.50 an ounce by 2115 GMT, versus the session high of $832 and late Monday's trade of $808 in New York.