WTI refreshes three-month top to eye $44.00, focus on API stocks, risk catalysts

WTI refreshes multi-day high, marked earlier in Asia, while rising to $43.65, up 1.67% on a day, ahead of Tuesday’s European session opening. That said, the energy benchmark prints a seven-day winning streak to attack August month’s top.

Welcome prints of the November month’s preliminary activity numbers from the US seem to have helped the black gold to remain positive the previous day. However, the commodity’s recent optimism takes clues from US President-elect Joe Biden’s nearness to the White House as Donald Trump concedes defeat, hesitantly though.

Also favoring the oil bulls could be the hopes that the coronavirus (COVID-19) will be tackled sooner as the vaccine race intensifies. Recently, AstraZeneca announced a 90% effective rate for its small dosage cures to the deadly virus.

Furthermore, the US dollar’s failure to keep the previous day’s upside momentum also backs the commodity prices. While portraying the same, the US dollar index (DXY) fizzles Monday’s notable U-turn from the September low.

Moving on, weekly oil inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) could offer immediate direction to the energy benchmark while risk catalysts remain as the key drivers. Although API data have recently marked an increase of stockpiles, any surprise draw can add strength to the WTI prices.

Technical analysis

The August month’s peak and February low, respectively near $43.85 and $43.95, offer immediate resistance to the energy benchmark targeting $44.00. Though, any further upside won’t refrain from challenging March’s top near $48.75.