On Friday, the WTI crude oil price bounced from the session lows of about $91.79 to trade at about $97.81 as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. The oil price trades within a sideways channel formation in the 60-minute chart.

The light crude oil price has now advanced to trade slightly above the 100-hour moving average line. However, it still has some room left to run before reaching the overbought levels of the 14-hour RSI.

WTI Crude Oil Fundamentals Overview

From a fundamental perspective, the light crude oil price trades during a relatively busy period in the US market. On Thursday, the US initial jobless claims for last week fell to 205k, down from 213k in the preceding week, beating the forecasted claim count of 215k. The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey for March outperformed the expectation of 10, with a reading of 18.1, up from 16.3 in February. 

Earlier in the week, the Federal Reserve kept the base interest rate unchanged at 3.75%, in line with expectations. The producer price index for February exceeded the (MoM) forecast of 0.3%, with a change of 0.7%. The (YoY) equivalent beat the estimate of 2.9%, with a change of 3.4%. The producer price index ex-food and energy also beat the (MoM) and (YoY) forecasts of 0.3% and 3.7%, respectively, with 0.5% and 3.9%.

In the latest US crude inventories, the API weekly crude oil stock for last week rose to 6.6 million, up from -1.7 million in the previous week, missing the forecast of -0.6 million. The EIA crude oil stocks change for last week also missed the expectation of 0.4 million, with 6.156 million, up from the preceding week’s equivalent of 3.82 million.

WTI Crude Oil Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)

Technically, the light crude oil price trades within a sideways channel formation in the 60-minute chart. The 14-hour RSI has recently bounced back to avoid falling into oversold conditions.

Therefore, the bulls will look to stretch the latest rebound towards $102.58 or higher to $107.97. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce on profits at about $91.79 or lower at $86.39.

WTI Crude Oil Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)

In the daily chart, the WTI crude oil price has recently completed an upward breakout from a descending channel formation. However, the 14-day RSI has recently pulled back to recover from overbought conditions.

Therefore, the bears will look to extend the latest pullback towards $78.33 or lower to $58.58. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on profits at about $119.48 or higher at $138.69.