WTI struggles for direction, holds steady below $65

WTI struggled to capitalize on the previous session's goodish rebound from multi-day lows.
Suspension of the COVID-19 vaccine in Europe raised doubts about fuel demand recovery.
Investors also preferred to wait on the sidelines ahead of the latest FOCM policy decision.

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude struggled to capitalize on the previous day's goodish bounce from four-day lows and witnessed a subdued/range-bounce price action during the Asian session. The commodity was last seen hovering around the $64.80-75 region, nearly unchanged for the day.

The black gold showed some resilience below the $64.00 mark on Tuesday and attracted some dip-buying in reaction to a bullish report by the American Petroleum Institute (API). According to API, US oil inventories unexpectedly fell by 1 million barrels last week as against consensus estimates pointing to a 2.715 million barrel build in stocks.

The supporting factor, however, was offset by concerns that stalled vaccine rollouts in Europe is slowing recovery in the fuel demand. In fact, Spain, Germany, France and Italy became the latest European countries to temporarily suspend the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine amid reports of possible serious side effects.

Apart from this, the underlying bullish sentiment surrounding the US dollar was seen as another factor holding traders from placing bullish bets around dollar-denominated commodities, including oil. The greenback remained well supported by the upbeat US economic outlook, bolstered by the passage of a massive US stimulus package.

Meanwhile, investors also seemed reluctant to place any aggressive bets, rather preferred to wait on the sidelines ahead of Wednesday's key event risk – the FOMC monetary policy decision. The Fed is widely expected to leave monetary policy setting unchanged and hence, the focus will be on the central bank's response to the recent surge in bond yields.

Technical levels to watch

WTI

Overview
Today last price	64.8
Today Daily Change	-0.21
Today Daily Change %	-0.32
Today daily open	65.01

Trends
Daily SMA20	62.91
Daily SMA50	57.82
Daily SMA100	51.08
Daily SMA200	45.78

Levels
Previous Daily High	65.47
Previous Daily Low	63.87
Previous Weekly High	67.87
Previous Weekly Low	63.11
Previous Monthly High	63.72
Previous Monthly Low	51.6
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	64.48
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	64.86
Daily Pivot Point S1	64.1
Daily Pivot Point S2	63.18
Daily Pivot Point S3	62.5
Daily Pivot Point R1	65.7
Daily Pivot Point R2	66.38
Daily Pivot Point R3	67.29

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

Markets move fast. We move first.

Orange Juice Newsletter brings you expert driven insights - not headlines. Every day on your inbox.

Editor's Picks

EUR/USD trims losses and returns to the 1.1750 area

The US Dollar resumed its decline in the American afternoon, helping EUR/USD trim early losses. The pair trades around 1.1750 as market participants gear up for the European Central Bank monetary policy decision and the United States Consumer Price Index.

GBP/USD consolidates above mid-1.3300s as traders await BoE and US CPI report

The GBP/USD pair struggles to capitalize on the overnight bounce from the 1.3310 area, or a one-week low, and oscillates in a narrow band during the Asian session on Thursday. Spot prices currently trade around the 1.3370 region, down less than 0.10% for the day, as traders opt to wait on the sidelines ahead of the key central bank event risk and US consumer inflation data.

Gold declines on profit-taking, USD strength ahead of US CPI release

Gold price edges lower below $4,350 during the Asian trading hours on Thursday. The precious metal retreats from seven-week highs amid some profit-taking and a rebound in the US Dollar (USD). The potential downside for the yellow metal might be limited after the recent US jobs data reinforce market expectations of further interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve and drag the USD lower.