Oil steadied after its biggest four-day rally since October, driven by trade war optimism and U.S. President Donald Trump's increasingly hostile rhetoric on Iranian supplies. West Texas Intermediate traded above $63 a barrel after rising nearly 10% in the previous four sessions, while Brent settled near $67. Trump said during a visit to Saudi Arabia that the U.S. would put maximum pressure on Iran's energy exports if a deal is not reached on the OPEC member's nuclear program, after the State Department earlier imposed sanctions on a pipeline that helps ship the Islamic Republic's oil to China. The hawkish comments on Iran added to a rebound driven by lower-than-expected U.S. inflation and lingering relief from easing trade tensions between the United States and China. Oil futures have climbed from a four-year low at the early close last week, but are still down more than 10% this year. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. crude inventories rose by 4.29 million barrels last week. That would be the biggest increase since March if confirmed by official data on Wednesday. (Newsmaker23)

Source: Bloomberg