Crude oil futures were largely steady during mid-morning trade in Asia Friday as market participants awaited fresh cues for price direction. Optimism derived from the US-China trade deal and the ongoing OPEC supply cut agreement was providing some underlying support to prices, analysts said. At 10 am Singapore time (0200 GMT), ICE Brent February crude futures were 3 cents/b (0.05%) higher than Thursday’s settle at $66.57/b, while the new front-month NYMEX February light sweet crude contract was 7 cents/b (0.11%) lower to $61.11/b. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that phase one of the US-China trade deal announced last week by US President Donald Trump was inked and is not subject to renegotiation. Mnuchin said he expects the deal to be officially signed in early January, according to media reports. “Agreement of the phase […]