WTI slumps to $55 area, looks to snap three-day winning streak

Russia's Novak says cuts in August will be lower than agreed with OPEC+.
Hurricane Dorian expected to weigh on US demand.
Baker Hughes' oil rig count coming up next in the session.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Easing concerns over a protracted US-China trade conflict and its potential negative impact on the global energy demand outlook allowed crude oil prices to gain traction earlier this week. Moreover, the weekly crude oil stock report published by the US Energy Information Administration showed a draw of more than 10 million barrels last week and provided an additional boost.

Rally loses steam on Friday

After testing the $53 on Monday, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate rose all the way up to $56.86 but failed to preserve its bullish momentum. With the latest comments from Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and fears over the impact of Hurricane Dorian, which continues to gather strength and could hit Florida over the weekend, on the US energy demand forced the WTI to make a sharp U-turn on Friday.

Ahead of the Baker Hughes Energy Services' weekly oil rig count data, the WTI is trading near $55, erasing 2.8% on a daily basis.

RIA and Interfax news agencies today quoted Novak saying that Russia's oil output cuts in August will slightly stay below those agreed with OPEC+. "Russia is aiming for full compliance with the deal despite a slight increase in output in August," Novak further added but the selling pressure on crude oil remained intact.

Technical levels

WTI

Overview
Today last price	54.99
Today Daily Change	-1.49
Today Daily Change %	-2.64
Today daily open	56.48

Trends
Daily SMA20	54.88
Daily SMA50	56.57
Daily SMA100	58.11
Daily SMA200	56.24

Levels
Previous Daily High	56.76
Previous Daily Low	55.33
Previous Weekly High	57.08
Previous Weekly Low	53.22
Previous Monthly High	60.99
Previous Monthly Low	54.87
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	56.21
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	55.88
Daily Pivot Point S1	55.62
Daily Pivot Point S2	54.76
Daily Pivot Point S3	54.19
Daily Pivot Point R1	57.05
Daily Pivot Point R2	57.62
Daily Pivot Point R3	58.48

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.

GBP/USD back to 1.3250, down modestly for the day

GBP/USD now comes under fresh downside pressure and recedes toward the mid-1.3200s on Tuesday, partially reversing the optimism seen at the beginning of the week. Meanwhile, Cable’s bearish tone follows the resumption of the upside traction in the Greenback, always amid the sharp rally in USD/JPY.

EUR/USD off tops, back to 1.1400

EUR/USD now loses some momentum and recedes from the area of recent daily tops, revisiting the 1.1400 neighbourhood in the latter part of Tuesday session. The pair’s daily decline comes in response to the resurgence of some buying interest in the US Dollar.

Gold clings to daily gains beyond $4,000

Following multi-month lows near $3,950, Gold now manages to regain some composure and reclaim the area beyond the key $4,000 yardstick per troy ounce on Wednesday. Still, any meaningful recovery appears limited as a broadly firmer US Dollar and rising US Treasury yields weigh on the yellow metal.

Ripple defends critical support, Stellar extends recovery

Ripple (XRP) trades around the key $1.00 psychological level, consolidating as the token awaits its next directional catalyst. Stellar (XLM) extends its recovery above $0.178 after posting modest gains at the start of this week.

Why a hawkish Bank of Japan could trigger the next Bitcoin sell-off

The Japanese Yen hits a 40-year low of 162.00 against the US Dollar, raising concerns about intervention or additional rate hikes by the Bank of Japan. BoJ may sell US Treasuries to buy back Yen, potentially pushing US bond yields higher and making Bitcoin less attractive to investors.

Kevin Warsh isn't expected to say much in Sintra: That's exactly why markets will listen

Financial markets could find an important catalyst in the enchanting, fairytale-like landscape of Sintra this week. The ECB Forum will, as it does every year, gather the crème de la crème of central banks. The new boss at the Fed, who has clearly said that the Fed should stop explaining everything, will need to talk – and traders should listen.