WTI sits at the highest since Dec 2014, EIA data on tap
- Consolidates near 3-year tops.
- Reverses to 5-DMA.
- Weekly US API crude stockpiles in focus.
Having refresh three-year highs at $ 63.56 last hour, WTI (oil futures on NYMEX) entered a phase of upside consolidation, awaiting yet another bullish crude inventory report, this time to be reported by the EIA.
WTI eyes $ 64 mark
The barrel of WTI trades with moderate gains and remains within a striking distance of fresh multi-year tops on the back of rising Asian demand while expectations of tighter markets in 2018 amid ongoing OPEC output cuts and falling US crude inventories also underpinned the sentiment around the commodity.
India’s fuel demand rose 7.5% in December compared with the same month last year. Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, totaled 17.39 million tonnes, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed.
Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed in its weekly report published late-Tuesday, the US crude inventories fell by 11.2 million barrels in the week to Jan. 5, to 416.6 million barrels.
Further boosting the sentiment, analysts at Standard Chartered said in their client note that oil demand growth is likely to outpace non-OPEC supply growth in both 2018 and 2019. Also, broad-based US dollar weakness amid a retreat in Treasury yields across the curve pushed the USD-sensitive oil prices higher.
At the time of writing, WTI trades +0.67% higher at $ 63.38 while Brent rises +0.36% to $ 69.05.
WTI Technical Levels
The resistances are aligned at $64 (round number) ahead of $ 64.63 (classic R2/ Fib R3) and $65 (psychological levels). On the downside, supports are located at $62.90 (daily pivot), $62.30 (5-DMA) and $61.62 (10-DMA).