Oil steadies after gains driven by trade optimism

Oil prices steadied on Tuesday as investors kept an eye on US inventory data due later, following two days of gains on positive economic data and hopes for a Washington-Beijing trade deal.

Brent crude futures were up 4 cents at $62.17 a barrel at 0330 GMT after gaining 0.7 percent in the previous session.

US crude futures were down 1 cent at $56.53 a barrel. They gained 0.6 percent on Monday.

US crude oil inventories were forecast to have risen last week, while refined products stocks likely declined, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

Five analysts polled by Reuters estimated, on average, that crude inventories rose around 2.7 million barrels in the week to Nov. 1.

Oil has been supported by hopes for a trade deal that could boost demand. Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump have been in continuous touch through "various means," China said on Monday, when asked when and where the two leaders might meet to sign a trade deal.

Improved US jobs growth numbers in October and upward revisions of the two previous months are also helping oil prices, analysts said.