Mixed sentiment sees WTI crude oil ending the day broadly flat; establishes tight $72.73 to $73.12 range

Tentatively higher from an earlier low of $72.73, WTI crude is up to $72.91 per barrel today, adding 35 cents, or 0.48%, to yesterday's closing price of $72.56.

This uncertain state for WTI crude is reflected by published market data as data for United States Crude Oil Inventories published yesterday at 14:30 UTC came out at 2.95 million, beating projections of -917,000 and showing improvement over the preceding figure of -1.28 million. United States Consumer Price Index came out at 4.9%, while a consensus of analysts was expecting 5%. United States Core Consumer Prices released yesterday at 12:30 UTC with a figure of 0.4%, while the previous figure was 0.4%.

As the trading day commences, technical analysis suggests Crude Oil is approaching key support, around $1.11 away from $71.8. 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.

Meanwhile, mixed performances are seen in other Energy as Brent Crude Oil moves 0.44% to trade around $76.75. Heating Oil moves 0.31% to trade around $2.4.

Data to be released later is expected to clarify investor sentiment while boosting price action volatility as United States Producer Price Index is projected to outperform its last figure with 0.3%. It previously stood at -0.5%; data will be released today at 12:30 UTC. United States Initial Jobless Claims projected to decline to 245,000 while previous data was 242,000; data will be released today at 12:30 UTC.

WTI crude hit a significant low of $68.25 around 8 days ago, but has since recovered 6.32%.