WTI nudges higher towards $70.00 amid decent dip demand, though Omicron remains a risk

Crude oil prices have chopped between the $68.50 and $70.00 levels on Tuesday.
Prices are substantially higher versus Monday’s lows amid dip-buying, though Omicron remains a risk.

Joel Frank Independent Analyst

Front-month WTI crude oil future prices have been choppy on Tuesday, swinging between the $68.50 and $70.00 level and, in doing so, swinging between gains and losses. At present, oil is trading in the mid-$69.00s, in the top half of today’s trading range and with very modest gains of about 25 cents on the session. Again on Monday, it seems that oil prices over-reacted to the latest Omicron news, providing a dip-buying opportunity for the longer-term bulls. At current levels, WTI is up more than 5.0% or close to $3.50 per barrel versus its Monday lows just above $66.00.

In terms of the latest on Omicron, sequencing data released on Tuesday out of the US showed that Omicron now made up 73% of total Covid-19 infections in the country. Most expect that the US will soon follow the path of the UK and see the daily infection rate spike to record highs. This is likely to cause alarm, which is a risk that crude oil traders should watch out for over the coming sessions/weeks into early 2022. But the key factor in the US is whether it follows in the footsteps of Europe by states moving to lockdown and whether hospitalisations surge.

Given the above, just as sharp downturns might be seen as a market overreaction, any sustained crude oil rally in the coming days is vulnerable to be seen as a selling opportunity. Aside from tracking pandemic news/trends,US crude oil inventory data will also be worth watching. Private weekly API inventory figures will be released on Tuesday at 2130GMT ahead of official weekly US inventories on Wednesday. Expectations are currently for Wednesday’s official data to show a sizeable 2.6M barrel draw in stocks.

Wti

Overview
Today last price	69.44
Today Daily Change	0.51
Today Daily Change %	0.74
Today daily open	68.93

Trends
Daily SMA20	70.79
Daily SMA50	76.83
Daily SMA100	73.67
Daily SMA200	70.26

Levels
Previous Daily High	70.07
Previous Daily Low	66.1
Previous Weekly High	72.83
Previous Weekly Low	69.21
Previous Monthly High	83.97
Previous Monthly Low	64.32
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	67.62
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	68.55
Daily Pivot Point S1	66.67
Daily Pivot Point S2	64.4
Daily Pivot Point S3	62.7
Daily Pivot Point R1	70.63
Daily Pivot Point R2	72.33
Daily Pivot Point R3	74.6

Author

Joel Frank

Independent Analyst

Joel Frank is an economics graduate from the University of Birmingham and has worked as a full-time financial market analyst since 2018, specialising in the coverage of how developments in the global economy impact financial asset

AUD/USD sticks to positive bias above 0.7100; lacks bullish conviction

AUD/USD trades with a positive bias for the second straight day, holding above 0.7100 in the Asian session on Friday as softer US bond yields keep US Dollar bulls on the back foot. Furthermore, hawkish RBA Governor Bullock's comments boost rate hike bets and support the Aussie. However, the Fed's hawkish outlook, along with geopolitical uncertainties, limits USD losses and caps the pair.

USD/JPY approaches 158.00 as Japanese Yen resumes decline

USD/JPY is resuming its upside in the European session on Friday, refreshing two-week highs and nearing 158.00. The Japanese Yen extends losses, despite the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) expected rate hike to 1.25% and hawkish Governor Ueda's comments, as two surprise dissents against the rate hike weigh on it.

Gold keeps the bid tone in place; still below $4,400

Gold adds to the optimism seen in the second half of the week, trading with decent gains just below the $4,400 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The precious metal’s advance finds traction in declining crude oil prices and fresh selling pressure on the US Dollar.

Why altcoin season isn't coming back — and what stole its capital

If, after two years of being frozen in ice, Katara and Sokka woke you up to the crypto market, it would seem like 100 years have passed. With Bitcoin soaring to record highs just over a year ago, everyone expected a routine altcoin season, where investors take profits from the top crypto to chase higher returns in altcoins.

BoJ Recap: Not as hawkish as expected

The BoJ raised its short-term interest-rate target to 1.25% from 1.00% in a 7-2 vote, marking another step in the normalisation of monetary policy and widely matching what everyone has been expecting for weeks. Governor Kazuo Ueda said the policy phase had changed.

BoJ Recap: Not as hawkish as expected

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised its short-term interest-rate target to 1.25% from 1.00% in a 7-2 vote, marking another step in the normalisation of monetary policy and widely matching what everyone has been expecting for weeks.