September’s been an interesting month of price action for oil traders, as the WTI contract (USO, quote) continues to bounce around, driven back and forth by a variety of forces as it continues to consolidate in a narrow range.
Oil traders hoping for a slow down in the bearish trend, to enjoy a relaxing weekend away from the screens, may have been tripped up by the Chinese (FXI, quote) data which slipped out on Saturday, with industrial production coming in at 6.9% against a forecast of 8.8%, missing the forecast by some distance, and whipping up the perfect storm.
The short term rally for crude oil, came to a shuddering halt yesterday, as the December WTI futures (USO, quote) contract closed at $92.88 per barrel, having shed over $3 per barrel on the day, closing as a wide spread down candle on the daily chart.
Oil prices continue to remain heavily bearish on the daily chart following the initial failure at the $106 per barrel area in early July which was the tipping point for the commodity, with the final phase of this particular price action, clearly marked with a shooting star candle and pivot high, coupled with high volume, and confirming the weakness at this level.
Happy Friday Everyday This week we saw a nice swing up in the beginning of the week and then downward on global tension in Israel and concerns over the tragedy of the downed plane in the Ukraine. Our prayers and thoughts are with those families effected by this horrible tragedy.
Crude oil futures finally managed to find some bullish momentum today, courtesy of the oil inventories from Cushing, which helped oil to reclaim the $100 per barrel level, to currently trade at the time of writing at $101.26 per barrel.
Oil prices continued to move firmly lower once again in yesterday’s oil trading session with the WTI futures contract for August closing at $102.29 per barrel, and ending with a wide spread down candle as the commodity lost over a dollar per barrel on the day.
Oil continues to find it hard work, building on the bullish breakout of mid June, having moved into a sustained phase of price congestion over the last few weeks, as it continues to slide lower ahead of today’s oil inventories report.
Brent crude oil (BNO, quote) was steady just below $114 as worries about a supply interruption in Iraq faded. The commodity traded at $113.78 at 8:50 GMT as investors evaluated whether or not the Middle Eastern nation’s ongoing conflict would escalate further and tighten global supplies.
In any escalation of political tension oil and gold are the two key commodities to watch. For oil the breakout and surge higher was largely driven by events in Iraq coupled with supply issues at Cushing, both of which combined to help power the WTI crude oil (USO, quote) contract up to the $107 per barrel price point as evidenced by last Thursday’s wide spread up candle.
