WTI Price Analysis: Oil holds 200-day SMA, suffers biggest single-day drop since Sept.8

WTI holds the 200-day simple moving average support.
Indicators favor extension of Wednesday's 5.51% decline.

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the North American oil benchmark, is currently near $37.50, having avoided a bearish close below the 200-day simple moving average (SMA) support on Wednesday.

However, the black gold ended the day with a 5.51% drop, the biggest single-day percentage loss since Sept. 8. The decline has strengthened the bearish view put forward by the 14-day relative strength index's ascending triangle breakdown confirmed last week.

Further, the MACD histogram is now charting deeper bars below the zero line, indicating a strengthening of the bearish momentum.

As such, a convincing break below the 200-day SMA at $37.30 looks likely. That would shift the focus to deeper support at $36.13 (Sept. 8 low).

On the higher side, a close above the psychological level of $40 is needed to weaken the bearish bias.

Daily chart

Trend: Bearish

Technical levels

WTI

Overview
Today last price	37.48
Today Daily Change	0.02
Today Daily Change %	0.05
Today daily open	37.51

Trends
Daily SMA20	39.98
Daily SMA50	40.35
Daily SMA100	40.46
Daily SMA200	38.09

Levels
Previous Daily High	39.14
Previous Daily Low	37.11
Previous Weekly High	41.93
Previous Weekly Low	39.65
Previous Monthly High	43.56
Previous Monthly Low	36.43
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	37.88
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	38.36
Daily Pivot Point S1	36.7
Daily Pivot Point S2	35.89
Daily Pivot Point S3	34.67
Daily Pivot Point R1	38.72
Daily Pivot Point R2	39.94
Daily Pivot Point R3	40.75

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

AUD/USD gains traction near 0.7100 as the post-Fed USD rally pauses

AUD/USD finds fresh buyers and retakes 0.7100 in the Asian session on Thursday as the US Dollar pauses its hawkish Fed-inspired rally to its highest level since late July. However, RBA rate-hike bets and hopes for US-Iran diplomatic efforts lift risk sentiment and support the risk-sensitive Australian Dollar and the major.

USD/JPY reverses a dip below 156.00 as focus shifts to BoJ

USD/JPY is reversing a brief dip below 156.00 in the Asian session on Thursday, looking to snap a three-day winning streak to a nearly two-week top set the previous day. The US Dollar pauses following the post-Fed rally to seven-week highs, while a more hawkish repricing of the BoJ's policy normalization path supports the Japanese Yen. This keeps the pair's upside limited, with the focus now shifting to the BoJ policy decision due on Friday.

Gold retakes $4,300 amid modest USD pullback but hawkish Fed caps upside

Gold climbs back above the $4,300 mark heading into the European session on Thursday, though it remains within striking distance of a six-week low touched the previous day. The US Dollar eases after touching a fresh high since late July and offers some support to the commodity. However, the Fed's hawkish outlook, along with escalating Middle East tensions, should continue to underpin the safe-haven and cap the non-yielding bullion.

XRP and XLM rebound amid mixed signals

Ripple (XRP) and Stellar (XLM) extend their recovery at the time of writing on Thursday after finding support at key technical levels. However, mixed derivatives and on-chain data for both altcoins suggest that traders remain cautious and have yet to show strong conviction in a sustained rebound. Derivatives data shows a mixed and cautious outlook among traders.

BoE expected to hold interest rate at 3.75%

The Bank of England (BoE) is set to reveal its latest monetary policy decision on Thursday, coinciding with its sixth rate-setting meeting of 2026. Market analysts expect the central bank to keep its benchmark interest rate steady at 3.75%, which should be its sixth hold in a row following December’s 25-bps rate cut.

How Japan became the World's Banker and why that era may be ending

Japan's ultra-low interest rates helped finance trillions of dollars in global investments for more than a decade, making the Japanese Yen one of the world’s cheapest sources of funding. With the Bank of Japan expected to tighten policy again this week, that advantage may be entering a new phase. While most major economies raised interest rates, Japan remained the world's outlier.