Mixed sentiment sees West Texas crude ending the day broadly flat; establishes tight $81.76 to $83.12 range

Tentatively higher from an earlier low of $81.76, West Texas crude is up to $82.56 per barrel today, adding 40 cents, or 0.49%, to yesterday's closing price of $82.16.

United States's Retail Sales new data released of -1% below its previous figure.

This uncertain state for West Texas crude is reflected by published market data as highly important Core Retail Sales data from United States beat analyst expectations of -0.3% with a reading of -0.8%. Highly important Retail Sales data from United States beat analyst expectations of -0.4% with a reading of -1%. Following a previous reading of 0%, Producer Price Index in United States released yesterday at 12:30 UTC fell short of the 0.1% figure expected by analysts with an actual reading of -0.5%.

Crude Oil made an initial break below its 3 day Simple Moving Average at $82.35, a possible indication of a forthcoming negative trend. A Bearish Harami chart pattern, which is a means of predicting reversals in bull markets. When a Bearish Harami is detected at the top of a prevailing uptrend, it is typically considered a bearish signal and a prelude to a potential trend reversal. West Texas crude's upper Bollinger Band® is at $84.64, suggesting that a downward move may follow. On the other hand, note that West Texas crude is approaching key support, around 75 cents away from $81.81. 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.

Despite the market lacking direction, technical chart analysis strongly suggests WTI crude oil is positioned for a downward move in the near term.

Meanwhile, mixed performances are seen in other Energy as having closed the previous session at $2, Natural Gas is up 5.93% today to currently trade at around $2.13. After ending yesterday's session at $2.67, Heating Oil lost 2.95 cents and is trading around $2.64. Brent Crude Oil trades around $86.34, with no major change.

West Texas crude reached a significant high of $122.09 around 10 months ago but has lost 32.71% since then.