Oil eases on growing U.S. stockpiles; U.S.-China trade deal hopes check losses

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil slipped on Wednesday after an industry report showed a surprise build-up in U.S. crude inventories, but optimism surrounding the signing of the first phase of a U.S.-China trade deal prevented a bigger slide in prices. Brent crude futures dropped 9 cents, or 0.14%, to $64.18 a barrel by 0725 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 12 cents, or 0.21%, to $58.29 per barrel.Wednesday's decline reversed two days of gains, with WTI climbing 1.1% through..