April 12 Reuters Oil prices steadied Wednesday as the market waited for U.S. inflation data later in the day that will likely influence the Federal Reserve39;s policy on interest rate hikes.

Brent crude gained 14 cents, or 0.2, to 85.75 a barrel by 0917 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 10 cents, or 0.1, to 81.63 a barrel.

Prices had risen about 2 on Tuesday amid optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve is getting closer to ending its cycle of interest rate hikes, making dollarpriced oil cheaper for buyers holding other currencies.

The U.S. consumer price index is expected to show March core inflation rose 0.4 on a monthly basis and 5.6 yearonyear, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker said on Tuesday that he felt the U.S. central bank may soon be done raising interest rates, while Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said he believed inflation, now at a rate of 5 by the Fed39;s preferred measure, will get to the midthrees by the end of this year.

With traders being wary of the potential for inflation data to come in on the hotter side of expectations, it would not surprise to see the current positive market sentiment take a more circumspect turn ahead of key macro data this week, Kohle Capital Markets analyst Tim Waterer said.

Meanwhile, data from the American Petroleum Institute API showed crude inventories rose by about 380,000 barrels in the week ended April 7, sources…