Bullish phase under threat as WTI crude stays range-bound

While US crude oil is on a 4 day bullish trend, Today's session might suggest a slow down — without a clear-cut direction, West Texas crude is trading around $80.62 per barrel and ranging between $79.61 and $81.81.

WTI crude is currently trading at $80.62 following the release of JOLTs Job Openings (Feb) data from the United States.

WTI crude oil's state is reflected by market data as United States JOLTs Job Openings (Feb) released today at 14:00 UTC with a figure of 9.93 million, while the previous figure was 10.56 million. United States ISM Manufacturing PMI (Mar) came out at 46.3, while a consensus of analysts was expecting 47.5. United States Factory Orders released earlier showed a marked improvement to -0.7% from the preceding data of -2.1%, but fell short of the -0.5% figure forecast by a consensus of market analysts.

Trend analysis indicates that investors are seeking long positions as Crude Oil price action surged above +100 — a key CCI threshold indicating an imminent bullish trend. Fibonacci-minded traders witnessed a key Fib level of $79.68 holding firm – an indicator of highly concentrated demand around this level. Analysis based on the asset volatility indicates that US crude oil's upper Bollinger Band® is at $81.65, suggesting that a downward move may follow. As the trading day comes to an end, chart analysis indicates West Texas crude is approaching key support, around $1.54 away from $79.08. Dipping below could indicate further losses are ahead while a failure to break below this level is likely to be seen positively by market bulls.

Overall, while West Texas crude has been on an uptrend, technical indicators suggest that it has no obvious direction for the immediate future.

Meanwhile, mixed performances are seen in other Energy as Brent Crude Oil is up 6.45%.

Furthermore, the market is looking at United States Crude Oil Inventories is projected to outperform its last figure with -1.8 million. It previously stood at -7.49 million; data will be released tomorrow at 14:30 UTC. United States ADP Nonfarm Employment Change (Mar) is scheduled for tomorrow at 12:15 UTC. United States ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI (Mar) is expected tomorrow at 14:00 UTC.

Approximately 9 months ago, WTI crude reached a significant high of $122.09 but has struggled to hold onto its gains and declined 34.13% since then.