WTI clings to $80.00 amid broad US dollar strength across the board

Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) is advancing for the fourth consecutive day, is trading at $80.10, climbs 0.14% during the New York session at the time of writing. Market sentiment is a mixed bag, as US stocks seesaw around the green and red, while European stocks are recording losses between 0.07% and 0.44%, except for the Spanish IBEX 35, which increased 0.43%.

The ongoing energy crisis threatens to keep oil prices higher. Shortages of energy in Asia have pushed China to allow coal-fired power plants to pass on the high costs of generation to some end users. Further, India has asked energy producers to import up to 10% of their coal needs, despite being the world’s second-largest coal producer. However, a steep surge in power demand that has exceeded pre-pandemic levels in Asia means that coal India’s supplies are no longer sufficient.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index that tracks the greenback’s performance against a basket of six peers and influences commodity prices is up 0.09%, sitting at 94.45 near one and half year highs, putting a lid on WTI price.

WTI Price Forecast: Technical outlook

1-hour chart

WTI is hovering around the 50-simple moving average (SMA) at 80.02. A breach above $81.00 could pave the way for further gains. The first supply zone would be $82.00, a level tested on Monday unsuccessfully, with the move retreating to $79.00. A break above the latter would expose a move towards $84.00. 

On the flip side, a break below the 50-SMA could exert downward pressure on WTI, pushing the price towards the 100-SMA at $78.84. In that outcome, the following demand zones would be the $78.00 and then the 200-SMA at $77.70.

The Relative Strenght Index (RSI) is at 49, suggesting that WTI could be headed towards consolidation or a correction lower before resuming the upward trend.