Crude oil futures were higher during mid-morning trade in Asia Tuesday on market optimism ahead of the US-China phase one trade deal signing this week. However, anticipation of rising US crude stocks capped gains. At 10:45 am Singapore time (0245GMT), the front-month March ICE Brent crude futures rose 20 cents/b (0.31%) from Monday’s settle at $64.40/b, while the NYMEX February light sweet crude contract was 16 cents/b (0.28%) higher at $58.23/b. According to media reports, US dropped China’s label of a currency manipulator ahead of the trade deal, which lifted markets on a fresh wave of optimism. “Another injection of market optimism ahead of the US-China phase one trade deal signing proved potent in enabling fresh record highs on Wall Street, one that also does Asia markets a favour from an FX [foreign exchange] perspective,” IG’s market […]