FXStreet (Mumbai) – WTI oil on NYMEX erased a portion of its overnight upsurge and slipped back in to losses on Tuesday as weak Chinese factory data brought back fears over crude demand from the world’s major oil consumer.
WTI weakens on China data
Currently, WTI trades nearly -3% lower at 47.69, extending its retreat from $ 49.31 – fresh five month highs reached on Monday. Oil traders took a breather this session after both the oil benchmarks soared to highest levels in five months following a fresh report over falling US crude production as well as OPEC’s latest comments.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Monday that US crude oil output fell by 0.1 million barrels per day (bpd) to 9.3 million barrels in June, while output estimates for the January-May period had been revised down by about 0.13 million bpd.
Meanwhile, a fresh bulletin from OPEC’s Secretariat noted,”continuing pressure on prices, brought about by higher crude production, coupled with market speculation, remains a cause of concern for OPEC and its members – indeed for all stakeholders in the industry.”
Moreover, the recent Chinese manufacturing data added to the persisting China concerns dragging down oil prices further. The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing factory PMI fell to 49.7 points in August, it’s lowest since August 2012, from 50 in July.
This week will bring some important data, including weekly reports on US crude reserves on Tuesday and Wednesday. Last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an outflow of 5.45 million barrels.
WTI Oil Technical Levels
WTI oil has an immediate resistance which stands at 48 levels above which gains could be extended to 49.31 levels. Meanwhile, support is seen at 45 levels from here losses could be extended to 43.60 levels.
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