Commodity Capsule: Brent crude oil rangebound; gold steady | Watch video

Commodity Capsule: Oil prices were largely rangebound on Tuesday, US benchmark and Brent crude extended marginal gains from the previous session.

Attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militants on ships in the Red Sea disrupted maritime trade and forced companies to reroute vessels.

Brent crude futures rose past $78 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures hovered under $73/bbl.c

Both benchmarks rose close to 2 per cent on Monday on concerns about shippers diverting vessels away from the Red Sea.

Gold prices held steady on Tuesday helped by a weaker dollar

Investors awaited more US economic data this week that could shed light on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook.

Spot gold was flat at $2,024/ounce. U.S. gold futures were unchanged at $2,037.

The dollar was down 0.1 per cent against its rivals, making gold less expensive for other currency holders. 

Fed is not precommiting to cutting interest rates soon and swiftly, and the jump in market expectations that it will do so is at odds with how the U.S. central bank functions, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said on Monday.

Markets are now pricing in about a 69 per cent chance of a Fed rate cut in March.

Investors are awaiting a series of US economic data this week, including the November core personal consumption expenditure index report due on Friday.

Copper on the London Metal Exchange was listless under $8,500/metric ton.

In China, refined copper production in November jumped 12.3 per cent to 1.14 million metric tons year-on-year.

Strong production and rising imports weighed down Yangshan's copper premium.

Premium slid to $95.50 per ton on Monday from a 13-month high touched earlier this month.

Raw sugar futures on the Intercontinental Exchange slid, heading toward nine-month lows.

Sugar is under pressure as rainfall will be returning to Brazil over the next week.

ICE raw sugar speculators slashed their net long position by 52,024 contracts to 27,074 in the week to December 12.

Robusta steadied after hitting its highest level in at least 15 years last week.

Rabobank said limited robusta flows from top producer Vietnam are prompting demand for Brazilian robusta.

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