COMMODITIES-Copper leads rally on better economic news

* IMF outlook, world data bolsters investor confidence

* Copper, cocoa up 4 percent each

* Soybeans up 2 percent on strong exports

* Oil snaps six-day slide

NEW YORK, July 9 - Copper prices jumped 4 percent on Thursday as a positive economic outlook by the IMF and improving data from the United States to Germany and China gave investors hope that the recession was turning.

Fundamentals came into play too, with fears about the El-Nino weather cycle driving cocoa prices up 4 percent and strong export numbers helping a 2 percent rise in soybeans.

The 19-commodity Reuters-Jefferies CRB index closed up almost 1.5 percent as a weak dollar provided investors another incentive to buy into commodities.

The International Monetary Fund said the world was slowly pulling out of its worst economic rut since World War Two, and forecast a 2.5 percent growth in 2010.

"Nerves were frayed ... and what the IMF was saying has helped soothe nerves," said Robin Bhar, an analyst in London for brokerage Calyon.

The IMF outlook was followed by stronger economic data from around the world.

U.S. unemployment data showed a sharp weekly drop in jobless claims, while Germany said it may have already emerged from recession.

In China, a think-tank forecast the country's economy will grow at around 8 percent this year amid a year-on-year rise of nearly 50 percent last month in passenger car sales.

U.S. copper futures for September delivery surged 7.85 cents, or 3.6 percent, to settle at $2.2375 a lb on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division.

On the London Metal Exchange, benchmark copper closed up $170 at $4,890 a tonne.

U.S. crude oil rose 27 cents to $60.41 a barrel on supply concerns sparked by refinery shutdowns. The market had closed down in six straight sessions before Thursday, on worries about an oil glut, a weak economy and tougher trading regulations mulled by the government.

In cocoa, the September contract in New York surged $105 to finish at $2,647 a tonne on fears that the El-Nino weather phenomenon could bring drought to Indonesia, the third largest cocoa producer in the world.

In soybeans, the spot July contract on the Chicago Board of Trade closed up 26-1/2 cents at $11.10-1/2 a bushel on strong weekly export numbers, helped by Chinese buying.

"We are over the mark needed to reach USDA's soybean export goal," Rich Feltes, senior vice president of MF Global Research, said, referring to the government target for soybean sales in the 2008/09 season ending Aug 31.