Oil prices were steady on Tuesday as investors monitored U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of higher tariffs on European states over his drive to acquire Greenland, while firmer global economic growth expectations and better-than-expected economic data from China gave a floor to prices, Reuters reported.
Brent futures for March shed 11 cents, or 0.17%, at $63.83 a barrel at 0918 GMT, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude contract for February was down 49 cents, or 0.8%, at $58.95.
Trump's tariff threats over Greenland will not have an immediate impact on the oil balance, said PVM analyst Tamas Varga, adding that prices gained support from an upward revision of this year's global economic growth estimate by the International Monetary Fund and stronger diesel prices.
Fears of a renewed trade war escalated over the weekend after Trump said he would impose additional 10% levies from February 1 on goods imported from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Britain, rising to 25% on June 1 if no deal on Greenland was reached.
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