WTI snaps three-month losing streak above $76.00 amid Middle East geopolitical tensions

WTI prices post their first monthly gain since September amid the ongoing Middle East geopolitical conflict.
IEA said that global oil demand will likely increase by 2mb/d in 2024.
A surprise build in US crude inventories dragged WTI prices lower.
Oil traders will monitor the Chinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI data on Thursday.

Lallalit Srijandorn FXStreet

Western Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $76.25 after bouncing off the weekly lows of $75.43 on Thursday. WTI prices snap the three-month losing streak amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, keeping global crude supply risks elevated.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director, Fatih Birol, said that global oil demand will likely increase by 2 mb/d in 2024, similar to the growth achieved in 2023. He further stated that demand will keep rising until at least 2030. Additionally, the rising Middle East geopolitical tensions highlight the potential risk to crude supplies in the region, which lifts WTI prices.

On the other hand, the upside of WTI prices might be limited due to the disappointing Chinese Manufacturing PMI data. On Wednesday, China’s NBS Manufacturing PMI came in at 49.2 in January versus 49.0 prior, below the market consensus of 49.2. Manufacturing activity in China contracted for a fourth straight month in January, which exerts some selling pressure on WTI prices as China is the leading crude importer in the world.

Apart from this, a surprise build in US weekly crude inventories dragged WTI lower on Wednesday. Inventories of US crude unexpectedly rose by 1.23M barrels for the week ended January 29 from the previous week's 9.233M barrels decline, compared with market expectations for a 217K barrel draw, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Oil traders await the January Chinese Caixin Manufacturing PMI, due on Thursday. Later in the day, the US weekly Initial Jobless Claims and ISM Manufacturing PMI will be due. These events could significantly impact the USD-denominated WTI price. Oil traders will take cues from the data and find trading opportunities around WTI prices.

WTI US OIL

Overview
Today last price	76.1
Today Daily Change	0.39
Today Daily Change %	0.52
Today daily open	75.71

Trends
Daily SMA20	74.06
Daily SMA50	73.47
Daily SMA100	78.68
Daily SMA200	77.26

Levels
Previous Daily High	78
Previous Daily Low	75.47
Previous Weekly High	78.2
Previous Weekly Low	72.55
Previous Monthly High	79.19
Previous Monthly Low	69.41
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	76.44
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	77.03
Daily Pivot Point S1	74.79
Daily Pivot Point S2	73.87
Daily Pivot Point S3	72.27
Daily Pivot Point R1	77.31
Daily Pivot Point R2	78.91
Daily Pivot Point R3	79.83

Author

Lallalit Srijandorn

FXStreet

Lallalit Srijandorn is a Parisian at heart. She has lived in France since 2019 and now becomes a digital entrepreneur based in Paris and Bangkok.

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