Mixed sentiment sees US crude oil ending the day broadly flat; establishes tight $76.55 to $77.52 range

West Texas crude trades at $77.5 per barrel, after ending yesterday at $77.05.

West Texas crude's state is reflected by market data as United States Consumer Confidence published yesterday at 15:00 UTC came out at 102.9, falling short of the 108.5 projections and continuing its decline from the previous 106 figure. United States API Weekly Crude Oil Stock released yesterday at 21:30 UTC with a figure of 6.20 million, while the previous figure was 9.89 million. United States Chicago PMI (Feb) came out at 43.6, while a consensus of analysts was expecting 45.

With regards to technical trend indicators, chart analysis show that the MACD index is indicating that momentum is shifting from bearish to bullish following a positive crossover. When the MACD rises above the signal line, it is typically considered to be a bullish development favoring long positions. Analysis based on the asset volatility indicates that US crude oil's upper Bollinger Band® is at $79.92, suggesting that a downward move may follow.

Overall, while WTI crude oil 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 having closed the previous session at $82.45, Brent Crude Oil is up 1.72% today to currently trade at around $83.87. Natural Gas moves 0.8% to trade around $2.77.

Furthermore, the market is looking at United States Crude Oil Inventories projected to decline to 457,000 while previous data was 7.65 million; data will be released today at 15:30 UTC. Projections for United States Initial Jobless Claims are set for a continuation of decline with 195,000 while previous data was 192,000; data will be released tomorrow at 13:30 UTC. United States ISM Manufacturing PMI (Feb) is scheduled for today at 15:00 UTC.

WTI crude oil reached a significant high of $124.77 around 11 months ago but has lost 38.25% since then.