Crude oil is trading higher today, with brent climbing above $92 per barrel on a wave of concern over the escalating conflict in the Middle East. As a result of the rocket explosion, several hundred civilians were killed at the Al Ahli Baptist Hospital, which was met with a strong reaction from both Israel and the Arab states - both sides are now flinging accusations at each other, and it is unclear who is responsible for the tragedy. President Biden finally landed in Israel today and expressed support for the country, also signaling that the IDF is probably not responsible for the Al-Ahli hospital tragedy. In addition, an Israeli army spokesman released footage and maps purporting to provide evidence that the blast was caused by a jihadist militant rocket.
Potentially, US support for Israel could exacerbate reactions from Arab states including Iran and Egypt and increase unrest in the region. In addition, yesterday's U.S. crude inventories according to the API indicated a decline of 4.38 million barrels against a strong increase of 12.94 million barrels last week. Investors had expected a decline of only 1.26 million barrels by which oil gains another argument for growth. Today, key data on US inventories according to the EIA will be published at 3:30 BST PM Also in the context of this report, market expectations point to a slight decline in inventories - a surprise in the other direction could further increase upward pressure on oil prices.
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Create account Try a demo Download mobile app Download mobile app3:30 BST PM - US oil inventories according to the EIA. Expectations: -0.55 million barrels vs. 10.1 million barrels previously
- Gasoline inventories. Expectations: - 0.1 million barrels decrease vs -1.3 million barrels previously
- Distillate inventories. Expectations: - 1 million barrels vs - 1.8 million barrels previously
OIL.WTI Chart on H4 Interval
For now WTI gains slighlty - only 0,7% compared to Brent but the situaton may change in the next few hours. Looking technically at the H4 chart of OIL.WTI, we observe an attack on the resistance zone at $88.30. In the case of a breakthrough above this zone, it will be possible to talk about a return to the upward channel, which could open the way even to an attack on the recent peaks at $94.70. On the other hand, if the price rebounded from the resistance at 88.30 and returned below the average EMA100 - the green line, there would be a chance to resume the downward movement towards the support at $81.65. This place is due to previous price reactions and measuring 50% FIbonacci retracement of the last upward wave, counting from the lows of the end of June.
Source: xStation5
