NEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Gold neared record highs when it surged beyond the much-anticipated $1,000-an-ounce level on Friday, while other commodities slumped on economic worries and from pressure that came from falling equity markets. 
   The best performing commodity since the world economic turmoil began last September, gold rose 3 percent to an 11-month high as investors flocked to the precious metal which they regarded as a store of value.
   Elsewhere in commodities, crude oil fell as much as 6.5 percent and copper 5 percent, while corn and soybeans dropped 3 percent. All recovered from their lows before the close.
   The Reuters-Jefferies CRB, a broad-based commodities index tracking 19 futures markets, settled down 1.3 percent. "Equities are setting new lows and gold is the place to run to," said Robert MacIntosh, chief economist at Eaton Vance, a mutual funds group in Boston.
   The spot price of gold bullion jumped to $1,005.40 by 4:00 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT), aching its highest point since March 18.  
   Gold futures for April delivery rose $31.20 to a session high of $1,007.70 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest price since July 16. ril gold settled up $25.70 at $1,002.20. Traders and analysts expected a bigger rally in gold in coming weeks as market bulls try to rewrite last year's record highs above $1,030 an ounce.  
   "Get used to it ... $1,050, maybe $1,100 an ounce is not xt couple of weeks, especially if the stock market can put in new lows," said Zachary Oxman, senior trader at Wisdom Financial in Newport Beach, California.
   U.S. stocks' key index, the Dow Jones industrial average , closed at a more than six-year low on fear that the government may end up nationalizing some failing banks if a rescue plan is not implemented in time. The rally in gold also pressured oil prices, which dropped more than $1 a barrel. Analysts said the weak outlook for the global economy stoked concerns that oil demand would shrink further and made investors turn to so-called safe-havens such as gold and Treasuries.  
   U.S. crude futures fell $2.57 to a session low of $36.91 a barrel, before closing 54 cents down at $38.94. Just a day ago, the market had jumped nearly $5, or 14 percent, its biggest gain since Dec. 31. 
   U.S. crude had soared to record highs above $147 a barrel in July before the economic turmoil forced the market down to as low as $32 barrel in December and January.
   Among industrial metals, copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange closed down $140 at $3,150 a tonne.  
   U.S. copper futures for March fell 7.60 cents to a session low of $1.3950 a lb, before closing 5.50 cents down at $1.4160.
   Copper -- a key ingredient in the housing, power and telecom industries -- had hit record highs above $4 a lb in U.S. trade and nearly $9,000 a tonne in London in July.
    On the agricultural front, U.S. soybeans for March delivery fell as much as 30.5 cents to a session low of $8.54 a bushel, before settling 22 cents lower at $8.62-1/2.