WTI falls towards 21-DMA on ebbing geopolitical fears ahead of US-Russia meeting

WTI (NYMEX futures) has reversed most of Thursday’s uptick, now posting moderate losses to pressurize daily lows near the $89.00 region.

The bears are back in the game amid easing fears of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, as diplomacy calls in for de-escalation, especially with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken having accepted an invitation to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov late next week, per the official source.

Meanwhile, investors also weigh in an unexpected build-up in the weekly US crude stocks data, published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday. US crude inventories rose by 1.1 million barrels for the week ended Feb. 11 vs. expectations of a decline of 200,000 barrels, according to an S&P Global Platts poll. 

Looking ahead, the geopolitical updates concerning the Ukrainian border will continue to lead the sentiment, impacting the oil price action. Meanwhile, end of the week repositioning could also affect the black gold.

Technically, nothing seems to have changed for WTI, as bulls continue to stay hopeful while the upward-sloping 21-Daily Moving Average (SMA) at $88.38 is defended.

The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI), however, turns lower towards the central line, suggesting that a retest of the 21-DMA support remains on the cards.

If the 21-DMA is breached convincingly, then a sharp drop towards the previous week’s low of $87.46 will be in the offing.

On the other side, a rebound in WTI could retest the $90.00 threshold, above which doors will open up towards Thursday’s high of $91.38.

WTI: Daily chart

WTI: Additional levels to watch