Oil steadies in cautious market amid calmer geo-political scene

Oil was steady in Asian trading, with a calmer geo-political scene offset by lingering worries on the U.S.-China trade war and on the supply outlook.

Futures in New York were down 0.1%, after rising 0.3% Tuesday to snap a five-day losing streak. Easing political tensions in the Middle East pushed investors’ focus onto the coming post-winter lull in demand. In a Bloomberg survey, analysts are predicting a 1.1 million-barrel increase in US crude stocks in the past week. If the build is confirmed by data Wednesday, it would mark a second weekly rise in American supplies.

The U.S. and China are set to sign a phase-one trade agreement on Wednesday, but a report suggested that existing tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods coming into the U.S. are likely to stay in place until after the American presidential election.