Oil futures closed lower on Tuesday. June WTI finished the day down $1.26 at $56.62 a barrel while June Brent settled at $62.08 down $1.37 on the day. After being up each day last week and making new highs for the year, oil has been consolidating these gains early this week due to a lack of fresh fundamentals. Both markets crossed thru their 100 day MA last week but remain well below the 200 day MA of $71.26 for WTI and $76.34 for Brent. On Tuesday, expiration of the May WTI contract led to choppy trade early in the session followed by a late day round of selling as reports broke that Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen have ended. This news likely encouraged profit taking by longs ahead of Wednesday’s DOE numbers.
Tuesday afternoon’s API inventories showed Crude:+5.5M Cushing: +572k Dist: +1.7M Gas: +1.1M RuR: Down 0.1% at 91.4% . Support for June WTI on Wednesday comes in at $55.20, last week’s low of $53.31 then followed by major support at $52.00. Brent has support at $60 followed by last week’s low $58.56 then $57.00. Resistance for WTI can be found at the Globex pivot of $56.92 followed by $58.35 and last week’s high $58.82 . Brent resistance lies at the daily pivot of $62.41, Tuesday’s high of $63.52 and last week’s high of $64.95.
It will likely take bullish DOE numbers for oil to test and break thru the highs of last week. Traders will also be focused on a slew of economic numbers on Thursday as well as Friday’s Durable Goods Report. Positive news from the DOE and for the US economy should encourage bulls to defend oil’s current uptrend from multiyear lows and continue a run to the 200 day Mas.
If you have questions on regarding the energy markets, would like to see a copy of Wednesday’s DOE Report, or would like to discuss an investment in the futures markets, feel free to call me directly at 570-657-0523 or send an email to bdeutsch@iasg.com. You can also reach us through our website at www.iasg.com