WTI jumps to fresh multi-week highs above $65
- WTI continues to rise after closing in the positive territory on Monday.
- Improving demand outlook is helping crude oil prices push higher.
- Focus shifts to American Petroleum Institue's (API) Weekly Crude Oil Stock data.
The barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained more than 1% on Monday as the latest PMI data from the euro area and the US revealed that the business activity in the manufacturing sector continued to expand at a robust pace.
Demand dynamics continue to drive oil prices
With large states in the US continuing to ease the coronavirus-related restrictions and Europe looking to allow international travel, crude oil prices continued to rise on the back of an improved demand outlook on Tuesday. As of writing, WTI was trading at its highest level since mid-March at $65.65, gaining 1.8% on a daily basis.
Later in the day, the American Petroleum Institue's (API) Weekly Crude Oil Stock report will be looked upon for fresh impetus.
On a negative note, India is having a difficult time dealing with the surging number of COVID infections and deaths, forcing investors to adopt a cautious stance.
Assessing the impact of the severe situation in India on the oil market, "the uncontrolled coronavirus outbreak in India will continue to pose the biggest downside risk to oil prices for now," noted OCBC analysts. "Bloomberg reported in April, gasoline consumption in India probably fell 6% and diesel about 2%. This consumption weakness is likely to continue into this month, given the ever-worsening daily cases in India."
Technical levels to watch for
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.
