WTI crude oil has formed higher lows and higher highs inside a rising channel on its 1-hour chart, with price testing the mid-channel area of interest.

A move past this area could set off a test of the channel resistance at the $75 per barrel mark. Technical indicators are giving mixed signals on whether or not the rally could carry on.

The 100 SMA is above the 200 SMA to indicate that the path of least resistance is to the upside or that the uptrend is more likely to resume than to reverse. The 100 SMA is near the channel bottom at $73.50 per barrel to add to its strength as a floor.

Stochastic is turning lower from the overbought zone to signal a pickup in selling pressure, and the oscillator has plenty of room to move south before indicating exhaustion among bears. RSI is also heading down from the overbought area to show that sellers are taking over while buyers take a break.

The EIA and API reported a larger than expected draw in crude oil stockpiles for the other week, with inventories down by 7.6 million barrels versus the estimated drop of 3.6 million barrels.

Another large draw this week could confirm that demand is picking up as more economies reopen. In addition, risk-taking from the Fed’s downplaying of tapering and tightening prospects also lifted investor demand for commodities.

The upcoming NFP report would likely impact overall market sentiment since this could support the Fed’s cautious bias, thereby continuing to boost higher-yielding assets.

Also note that the OPEC-JMMC has a meeting this week, so any indication that the cartel could end or adjust its crude oil output deal soon might have a strong impact on the commodity price.