WTI stays in a consolidation phase above $65

Crude oil prices fluctuate in a tight range on Monday.
Industrial Production in China expanded by 9.8% in April.
Investors await weekly crude oil stocks data from US.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Crude oil prices rose for the third straight week and the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained nearly 1% to settle above $65. With the financial markets staying relatively quiet at the start of the week, WTI trades in a very narrow range around $65.50.

Factory activity in China slows down modestly

Earlier in the day, the data from China revealed that Industrial Production in April expanded by 9.8% on a yearly basis following March's increase of 14.1%. Nevertheless, this reading came in line with the market expectation and failed to trigger a meaningful reaction in crude oil prices.

In the meantime, investors remain hopeful for a steady recovery in the global energy demand with major economies continuing to soften coronavirus-related restrictions.

On the other hand, the Colonial Pipeline recovered from last week's cyberattack and eased concerns over supply shortages, limiting WTI's upside for the time being.

Finally, Saudi Arabia announced on Monday that oil products exports in March declined 0.121 million barrels per day to 1.109 million barrels per day, as reported by Reuters. Later in the week, the API's and the EIA's weekly crude oil stock data from the US will be looked upon for fresh impetus.

Technical levels to watch for

WTI

Overview
Today last price	65.4
Today Daily Change	-0.09
Today Daily Change %	-0.14
Today daily open	65.49

Trends
Daily SMA20	63.91
Daily SMA50	62.66
Daily SMA100	58.89
Daily SMA200	50.41

Levels
Previous Daily High	65.55
Previous Daily Low	63.37
Previous Weekly High	66.63
Previous Weekly Low	63.12
Previous Monthly High	65.4
Previous Monthly Low	57.66
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	64.72
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	64.2
Daily Pivot Point S1	64.05
Daily Pivot Point S2	62.62
Daily Pivot Point S3	61.87
Daily Pivot Point R1	66.24
Daily Pivot Point R2	66.99
Daily Pivot Point R3	68.42

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.

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