|

Brent crude oil futures rise to $76.74 - highest since Nov. 2014

  • Oil is solidly bid in Asia on Iran deal fallout. 
  • The US to reimpose sanctions on Iran in 180 days, oil market could tighten significantly in second half of 2018. 

Brent oil rose to $76.74 in Asia - the highest level since November 2014 as investors anticipate a significant tightening of the oil markets in the second half of this year, courtesy of Iran deal fallout. 

The US President Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran that was agreed in late 2015 and is set to reimpose sanctions on OPEC's third biggest exporter of crude -  a move which will likely result in a drop in Iran's exports to Europe and Asia and a faster tightening of the oil market.

Moreover, Iran had re-emerged as a top exporter of oil after sanctions were lifted in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program. 

Consequently, oil benchmarks are looking northwards and could continue gaining altitude if the weekly US government report shows a drop in the inventory. 

Brent Oil Technical Outlook

'Brent oil could rise to $76.90-$77.79 range", Wang Tao is a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals. 

Key quotes

"Oil has more or less cleared the resistance at $76.34. It is gaining more towards the range of $76.90-$77.79, which is formed by the 223.6 percent and 238.2 percent projection levels of an uptrend from $63.19."

"Support is at $75.45 (first chart), a break below which may cause a loss into $74-$74.62 range."

Author

Omkar Godbole

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

More from Omkar Godbole
Share:

Editor's Picks

GBP/USD off highs, back to 1.3620

GBP/USD remains slightly on the defensive at the end of the week, receding to the low 1.3600s after hitting fresh tops past 1.3670 earlier in the day. Cable’s correction comes after two daily gains in a row and amid a tepid advance in the Greenback, while poor UK data also accompany the downside.

EUR/USD treads water below 1.1700

EUR/USD now trades with modest losses around 1.1670 following another unsuccessful atempt to advance past 1.1700 the figure in a convincing fashion. The pair’s decline follows a maginal rebound in the US Dollar as market participants continue to assess recent US data as well as developments from the US bond market.

Gold trims gains, recedes to the sub-$4,600 area

Gold rapidly leaves behind Thursday’s inconclusive price action and advances markedly on Friday, briefly surpassing the $4,600 mark per troy ounce to hit three-month peaks. Meanwhile, the precious metal’s solid performance comes despite marginal gains in the buck coupled with another day of rising US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP bulls accelerate rally amid rising ETF inflows

The cryptocurrency market remains bullish on Friday, led by Bitcoin’s surge above $77,000. Altcoins, including Ethereum and Ripple, mirror BTC’s positive outlook, trading near $2,400 and $1.35, respectively.

Week ahead – Fed’s Jackson Hole and Nvidia earnings to dictate markets

Kevin Warsh to make his Jackson Hole debut amid confusing messaging. But a major hawkish surprise unlikely after bond market intervention. Nvidia earnings to also determine market direction as stock rally cools.

$20 billion offered, $2 billion taken: Why Treasury doubled its buyback cap

The US Treasury moved off its own calendar on Wednesday, and that is the part worth sitting with. At 12:32 GMT, the department said it would at least double the size of liquidity support buyback operations in the 10-year to 20-year and 20-year to 30-year sectors, lifting the maximum from $2 billion per operation to at least $4 billion, effective September 9 and running to November 4.