WTI: Bulls gathering pace for a test of $ 64.80 ahead of EIA data
- Upbeat Chinese macro news and stimulus talks paired with an unexpected draw in US inventories drive oil higher.
- All eyes on US EIA crude stocks data for further direction while bulls look to extend control.
WTI (oil futures on NYMEX) is up in the green territory for the second straight day today, mainly driven by persisting risk-on action in the global stocks amid upbeat US earnings, better Chinese data and stimulus talks. The higher yielding oil tends to benefit amid a better appetite for risk assets and advance in tandem with the stocks and Treasury yields.
Moreover, the sentiment around the black gold remains underpinned by a surprise drawdown in the US API crude stockpiles data released a day before. The US API data showed that the US crude inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels in the week ended April 12 to 452.7 million, compared with analysts’ expectations for an increase of 1.7 million barrels.
The unexpected fall in the US crude stocks added to the ongoing optimism over tighter global markets, in the wake of the OPEC+ output cuts and the US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.
Moreover, the recent talks of increasing the OPEC+ production also remained a weight on the barrel of WTI. On Monday, Russia’s Finance Minister Siluanov said Russia and the producer group (OPEC+) may decide to boost output to fight for market share with the US.
However, the bulls are seen bidding up for a test of the 2019 highs at 64.79, as the focus remains on the official data on the US inventories due out from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) later today at 1430 GMT.
WTI Technical Levels
Author
Dhwani Mehta
FXStreet
Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.
