By Barani Krishnan

NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Oil held steady on Friday after

robust German data bolstered hopes for global economic recovery

and wheat and coffee rallied, muting the week's losses in

commodities caused by falling metals prices.

Benchmark Brent crude oil in London hovered at

around $113 a barrel after Germany's business climate index,

published by Munich's Ifo think-tank, showed the highest morale

in over half a year in Europe's No. 1 economy.

The Ifo numbers came after a day after data that suggested

the fastest monthly growth in about two years in manufacturing

activity in China and the United States.

Copper prices fell in London and New York

trade, reacting to reports of higher output at Anglo American's Chilean Collahuasi mine, the world's third largest for

the metal.

Investors in copper, the most influential market in

industrial metals, also ignored the euro's 11-month highs

against the dollar, which made commodities priced in the U.S.

currency - such as copper - cheaper for euro holders.

Gold prices slipped too, hitting a two-week low. The

precious metal fell after the European Central Bank said euro

zone banks will repay some 137 billion euros ($183.2 billion) in

cheap loans they had taken, boosting confidence in the region's

banks and dulling gold's hedge as a safe-haven to the euro.

The Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index, a

commodities bellwether that tracks 19 markets, settled down 0.4

percent for the session. For the week, it lost 0.6 percent.

OIL STEADY FOR THE DAY, UP FOR THE WEEK

Oil ended about flat for the session and higher for the

week.

Brent settled at $113.28 a barrel, unchanged from

Thursday and up $1.39 on the week.

U.S. crude finished at $95.88, down 7 cents from the

previous session and up 32 cents from a week ago. The market

also rose for a seventh week in a row, the longest such stretch

since 2009.

Gasoline was the only component of the oil complex

that rose for the day, while heating oil led the move

down amid ongoing maintenance works.

'One way of looking at this is as some rotation between

markets,' said Tim Evans, energy analyst for Citi Futures

Perspective in New York.

'Seasonally, people might be giving up a little bit on the

heating oil story and shifting toward gasoline, anticipating

rising seasonal demand as we move into the spring.'

COCOA AT 6-MONTH LOW, WHEAT REBOUNDS

U.S. cocoa futures sank to a six-month low in New York as

growing supplies from top producer West Africa and weakening

technicals accelerated selling in chocolate's main ingredient.

New York's most-active March cocoa contract fell $22,

or 1 percent, to settle at $2,173 per tonne after earlier

dipping to $2,166. That was the weakest level for the front

month since July 17, 2012.

Wheat was the outlier among major crops, rallying nearly 1

percent in Chicago trade after a three-day slide, as

better-than-expected weekly U.S. export sales triggered a round

of short-covering.

'The export sales today were super for wheat,' said Jack

Scoville, grains analyst at The Price Group in Chicago. 'The

wheat demand for soft red wheat ought to be picking up, too,

because it's relatively cheap.'

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export sales of

U.S. wheat in the latest week at 647,500 tonnes, including

572,500 tonnes for the current marketing year that began June 1,

2012. The combined-year total topped a range of trade

expectations for 350,000 to 550,000 tonnes.

U.S. wheat for March delivery settled at $7.76-1/2 a

bushel, up 1 percent for the day. For the week, it was down 2

percent, after accounting for losses in three earlier sessions.

Arabica coffee, a smaller market than wheat, also rose about

1 percent amid continued fears about the impact of the coffee

tree disease, known as roya, in Mexico and in Central America,

which accounts for fifth of global arabica output. New York's

March arabica rose 1.7 cents to $1.483 per lb.

Prices at 3:44 p.m. EST (2044 GMT)

LAST/ NET PCT YTD

CLOSE CHG CHG CHG

US crude 95.95 0.00 0.0% 4.5%

Brent crude 113.39 0.11 0.1% 2.1%

Natural gas 3.444 -0.002 -0.1% 2.8%

US gold 1656.60 -13.30 -0.8% -1.1%

Gold 1658.56 -8.80 -0.5% -0.9%

US Copper 365.20 -2.45 -0.7% 0.0%

LME Copper 8030.00 -65.50 -0.8% 1.2%

Dollar 79.758 -0.191 -0.2% 3.9%

US corn 720.75 -3.50 -0.5% 3.2%

US soybeans 1441.00 5.75 0.4% 1.6%

US wheat 776.50 8.00 1.0% -0.2%

US Coffee 148.30 1.75 1.2% 3.1%

US Cocoa 2173.00 -22.00 -1.0% -2.8%

US Sugar 18.38 -0.11 -0.6% -5.8%

US silver 31.206 -0.516 -1.6% 3.2%

US platinum 1693.90 11.10 0.7% 10.1%

US palladium 741.00 14.30 2.0% 5.4%

(Editing by David Gregorio; and Peter Galloway)

Keywords: MARKETS COMMODITIES/

(barani.krishnan@thomsonreuters.com)(+1 646 223 6192)(Reuters Messaging: barani.krishnan.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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