WTI fall sharply after three-day rally, trades below $64

Crude oil prices push lower ahead of the weekend.
Activity in China's manufacturing sector continues to grow.
Focus shifts to Baker Hughes' US Oil Rig Count data.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Crude oil prices rose sharply this week and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) touched its highest level since March 12 at $65.44 on Thursday. However, WTI lost its traction on the last trading day of April and was last seen losing 1.55% on a daily basis at $63.85.

Energy demand outlook improves on upbeat US data

On Thursday, the data published by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed the Real GDP expanded at an annual rate of 6.4% in the first quarter. This reading beat the market expectation of 6.1% and revived hopes for a steady recovery in energy demand in the second half of the year.

On the other hand, the NBS Manufacturing PMI in China edged lower to 51.1 in April from 51.9 in March, revealing that the business activity in the manufacturing sector continued to grow, albeit at a slower pace.

In the meantime, a recently published Reuters survey showed on Friday that OPEC's oil output increase by 100,000 barrels per day in April.

Later in the day, the Baker Hughes Energy Services' weekly US Oil Rig Count data will be watched closely by market participants.

Technical levels to watch for

WTI

Overview
Today last price	63.84
Today Daily Change	-0.97
Today Daily Change %	-1.50
Today daily open	64.81

Trends
Daily SMA20	61.58
Daily SMA50	61.88
Daily SMA100	57.01
Daily SMA200	49.11

Levels
Previous Daily High	65.4
Previous Daily Low	63.6
Previous Weekly High	64.36
Previous Weekly Low	60.6
Previous Monthly High	67.87
Previous Monthly Low	57.27
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	64.71
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	64.28
Daily Pivot Point S1	63.8
Daily Pivot Point S2	62.8
Daily Pivot Point S3	62
Daily Pivot Point R1	65.6
Daily Pivot Point R2	66.4
Daily Pivot Point R3	67.41

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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