Oil was little changed, as traders digested an initial agreement between the US and China to improve trade relations following talks in London.
West Texas Intermediate held near $65 a barrel, after losing 0.5% on Tuesday, while Brent settled above $66. Washington and Beijing reached a framework deal, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, with implementation subject to presidential approvals. The sides agreed to implement a consensus reached in Geneva in earlier talks, a Chinese official said.
Crude has dropped this year as the Trump administration’s aggressive trade agenda clouded the outlook for global growth and hurt appetite for risk assets including industrial commodities. At the same time, OPEC+ moved to restore idled capacity at a faster than expected pace, boosting concerns about a glut.
Meanwhile, an industry estimate showed that US crude inventories fell by about 400,000 barrels last week. The drawdown would be the third decline in a row, if confirmed by official data later Wednesday.