WTI: Mildly bids around $62.00 as US, Egypt hail ceasefire in Gaza

WTI posts mild gains around $62.00, up 0.35% intraday, during Friday’s initial Asian session. In doing so, the energy benchmark reverses from the lowest since late April while rising for the first time in four days amid risk-on mood.

The US data and the much-awaited halt to the geopolitical tussle between Israel and Palestine seem to favor oil optimists. Also contributing to the risk-on mood could be the chatters concerning US stimulus and recently easing covid fears in Asia.

US President Joe Biden and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi brokered a ceasefire deal in Gaza that will be in effect from 02:00 AM on Friday. While Israel and Hamas both agreed to the peace terms, Biden looks for progress and thanks to the parties to the required action.

Also helping them market sentiment was the latest US Jobless Claims data. With the US Weekly Jobless Claims easing to 444K, the four-week average also dropped from an upwardly revised 535.25K level to 504.75K. The jobs data helped White House Secretary Jen Psaki to cheer the recovery in the US employment scenario.

Amid these plays, Wall Street benchmarks jumped for the first time in a week whereas S&P 500 Futures also print mild gains by the press time. The risk-on mood also weighed down the US dollar index (DXY) and helped commodities of late.

Looking forward, oil traders will closely observe the May month preliminary activity numbers from the US, as well as weather conditions in the Gulf of Mexico amid chatters over hurricane developments.

Technical analysis

A clear downside break of an ascending trend line from February and 50-day SMA, respectively around $62.30 and $62.55, keeps WTI sellers hopeful to revisit the $60.00 psychological magnet.