WTI drops back below $ 56 ahead of OPEC meeting

Oil pares gains as US-China trade optimism-led risk-on cool-off.
Focus on US-Iran geopolitical tensions and OPEC meeting for fresh direction.

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

Having witnessed a volatile session on Wednesday, WTI (futures on Nymex) attempted a minor recovery from three-day lows of $ 55.62 on Thursday.

However, the black gold lacked follow-through on the 56 handle, as markets turned cautious ahead of the key OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) due later today.

US-China trade optimism offset by OPEC meeting nervousness

The barrel of WTI saw a steady recovery mode in the Asian trades after the risk sentiment was boosted on fresh US-China trade optimism, spurred by the goodwill trade gestures from both the US and China. The US President Trump delayed tariffs on Chinese good by two weeks in response to China’s exemptions of 16 US products from its tariffs list.

However, the recovery stalled in Europe, as the sellers returned amid expectations that the US could ease its stance on Iran, a move that would potentially boost global crude supply at a time of rising concerns about oil demand, as underscored by the latest OPEC monthly oil market report.

Meanwhile, increased nervousness heading into the key OPEC+ meeting on the output policy and oil market keeps the bulls on the edge. Despite the latest downtick, the prices are likely to find support from declining US crude stockpiles.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed that the US crude oil stockpiles fell last week to the lowest in nearly a year to 416.1 million barrels, down 6.9 million barrels in the week to Sept. 6.

All eyes remain on the fresh developments surrounding the US-Iran geopolitical conflict and US-China trade front for fresh trading impetus ahead of the OPEC meeting outcome.

WTI Levels to watch

WTI

Overview
Today last price	55.85
Today Daily Change	-0.12
Today Daily Change %	-0.21
Today daily open	55.92

Trends
Daily SMA20	55.59
Daily SMA50	56.16
Daily SMA100	57.33
Daily SMA200	56.43

Levels
Previous Daily High	58.21
Previous Daily Low	55.55
Previous Weekly High	57.63
Previous Weekly Low	52.77
Previous Monthly High	58.02
Previous Monthly Low	50.51
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	56.57
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	57.19
Daily Pivot Point S1	54.91
Daily Pivot Point S2	53.9
Daily Pivot Point S3	52.25
Daily Pivot Point R1	57.57
Daily Pivot Point R2	59.22
Daily Pivot Point R3	60.23

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.

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