WTI looks to settle below $42 after Baker Hughes data

WTI falls for the second straight day on Friday.
US drillers cut oil and gas rigs to record low for 15th week.
China has reportedly ramped up its US oil purchases.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Crude oil prices remained on the back foot on Friday and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was last seen losing 1.2% on the day at $41.80. Despite the two-day slump, the WTI remains on track to close the second straight week in the positive territory.

US data fails to help WTI rebound

During the Asian session on Friday, uninspiring the data from China, the world's second-biggest oil consumer, revived concerns over a weak demand outlook weighed on crude oil prices. Retail Sales in China contracted by 1.1% on a yearly basis in July and Industrial Production expanded by 4.8% annually to miss the market expectation of 5.1%.

Later in the day, the weekly report published by Baker Hughes Energy Services showed that the US driller cut oil and gas rigs to a recovered low for the fifteenth week. The total number of active oil rigs in the US currently stands at 172.

Meanwhile, citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported on Friday that China has ramped up its US oil purchases ahead of the US-China assessment of the phase one trade deal. "Chinese state oil firms tentatively book tankers to ship at least 20 million barrels of US crude in August and September," Reuters wrote. Nevertheless, this headline had little to no impact on crude oil prices ahead of the weekend.

Technical levels to watch for

WTI

Overview
Today last price	42.18
Today Daily Change	-0.41
Today Daily Change %	-0.96
Today daily open	42.59

Trends
Daily SMA20	41.55
Daily SMA50	40.25
Daily SMA100	33.52
Daily SMA200	43.04

Levels
Previous Daily High	43.08
Previous Daily Low	42.34
Previous Weekly High	43.62
Previous Weekly Low	39.75
Previous Monthly High	42.52
Previous Monthly Low	38.73
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	42.62
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	42.8
Daily Pivot Point S1	42.26
Daily Pivot Point S2	41.94
Daily Pivot Point S3	41.53
Daily Pivot Point R1	43
Daily Pivot Point R2	43.4
Daily Pivot Point R3	43.73

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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