Crude-oil futures eased in Asian trading hours Wednesday but held on to most gains from overnight as investors consider U.S. oil inventory data, heightened tensions in Ukraine and weak fundamentals. On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude futures for delivery in May traded at $102.23 a barrel at 0440 GMT–down $0.33 in the Globex electronic session. May Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.14 to $107.53 a barrel. Data from the American Petroleum Institute industry group late Tuesday showed U.S. oil inventories rose by 7.1 million barrels last week while stocks at the Nymex delivery hub of Cushing, Okla. rose unexpectedly by 200,000 barrels. More definitive inventory data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due later today. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect inventories rose by 1 million barrels, on average, in the week ended April 4. “Market expectations are for a […]