NEW YORK: Copper closed higher on Tuesday, recovering from a three-year low earlier in the day, as China's central bank sought to soothe fears of a credit crunch in the world's top metals consumer, while oil finished flat and gold fell amid a stronger dollar.

Crop prices mostly rose.

Cocoa finished higher as it found technical support a day after hitting a 2-1/2-month low. Raw sugar edged up for a third straight day, underpinned by unfavorable harvest weather in top grower Brazil.

Soybean futures rose for a second straight session, supported by firm cash prices as domestic processors use supplies from last year's drought-hit harvest.

The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index rose 0.2 percent, recouping all it lost on Monday.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange closed at $6,805 a tonne, versus Monday's $6,670. During the session, it hit $6,602, its lowest since July 2010.

In oil, the closely watched Brent crude out of Europe's North Sea settled up 10 cents at $101.26 a barrel after a sluggish day of trading.

Gold eased as a raft of positive US housing and consumer confidence data lifted the dollar for a fifth straight day and reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve would rein in its monetary stimulus program in the next few months.

The spot price of gold was down $5.93, or 0.46 percent, at $1,275.09 an ounce at 3:28 p.m. EDT (1928 GMT), off an earlier high of $1,288.80.

The dollar rose 0.2 percent against a basket of major currencies.