Oil price steadies as hopes of easing trade tensions lend support

The market awaits weekly data on U.S. inventories, which was expected to show a 1.9 million-barrel drop in crude stocks for last week. The American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, reports its estimates at 4:30 p.m., followed by and government data on Wednesday morning.

NEW YORK: Oil prices steadied on Tuesday on optimism U.S.-China trade tensions will ease and hopes major economies will take stimulus measures to ward off a possible economic slowdown, after falling earlier on concerns over future demand.

Brent crude settled 29 cents, or 0.5%, higher at $60.03 a barrel, while U.S. crude rose 13 cents to $56.34 a barrel. U.S. crude turned lower in post-settlement trade after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was not ready to make a trade deal with China.