At the beginning of Asian trading today, oil prices remained almost unchanged after yesterday's growth of about 2%. Hopes for increased demand in developing countries, as well as production cuts by the world's largest exporters outweighed market fears of recession and rising U.S. inventories.
U.S. crude inventories rose about 3 million barrels in the week to July 7, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute industry figures. Analysts expected a 500,000-barrel rise in crude stocks.
The U.S. oil reserves data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) is expected today. If the API data is confirmed, it will be the first increase in the country's reserves in the last 4 weeks. Last year during the same period storage volumes were replenished by 3.3 million barrels.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the oil market will remain tight in the second half of 2023. This will be facilitated by increased demand for the energy carrier and simultaneous production cuts by Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Investors will be watching the U.S. consumer price index read later Wednesday for clues on the path forward for monetary tightening. Aggressive interest-rate hikes this year have weighed on the demand outlook.
Oil remains marginally lower this year, but OPEC+ heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia have pledged supply cuts to prop up prices.
Ship-tracking data showed that the volume of supply passing through Russia's western ports fell significantly in the four weeks to July 9. This was another reason for oil's latest rally.
The WTI crude oil chart is showing a broad correction with a range of 67.00 - 74.70 on the H4 timeframe.
The Stochastic Oscillator moving indicators (standard values) have entered the overbought zone, indicating the possibility of price decline.
Signal:
Short-term prospects for WTI suggest selling.
The target is at the level of 70,90.
Part of the profit should be taken near the level of 72,65.
A stop-loss could be placed at the level of 77,20.
The bearish trend is short-term, so trade volume should not exceed 2% of your balance.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice.
