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March 09, 2023
WTI crude oil is on a 3 day downtrend Today is looking a bit better: WTI crude is now trading at $76.71 per barrel after tracing out a steady $76.16 – $78.06 range today.
United States's Initial Jobless Claims new data released of 211,000 below its previous figure.
Uncertainty around WTI crude is reflected by published market data as following a previous reading of 190,000, Initial Jobless Claims in United States released today at 13:30 UTC fell short of the 195,000 figure expected by analysts with an actual reading of 211,000. Highly important Crude Oil Inventories data from United States beat analyst expectations of 395,000 with a reading of -1.69 million. United States JOLTs Job Openings (Jan) released yesterday at 15:00 UTC with a figure of 10.82 million, while the previous figure was 11.23 million.
Crude Oil is approaching key support, around 77 cents away from $75.94. 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. West Texas crude made an initial breakout above its 50 day Simple Moving Average at $77.6, a potential indicator of a newly emerging bullish phase. US crude oil's upper Bollinger Band® is at $80.26 and the lower is $74.22.
Although price action remains in a stalemate, technical analysis suggests West Texas crude could be primed for a break to the upside.
Meanwhile, mixed performances are seen in other Energy as Heating Oil closed at $2.71 (down 1.05%).
Data to be released later is expected to clarify investor sentiment while boosting price action volatility as tomorrow at 13:30 UTC data for United States Non Farm Payrolls will be released, with an expected decline to 205,000 from the preceding figure of 517,000. United States Unemployment Rate figure is projected at 3.4. It previously stood at 3.4; data will be released tomorrow at 13:30 UTC.
Since its 52-week high of $124.77, WTI crude oil has lost 38.56% over the last twelve months.
