The WTI crude oil price on Friday pulled back below $80 after finding strong trendline resistance at $80.34. However, the light crude oil price still appears to be trading within an ascending channel formation in the 60-min chart.
As a result, the price of oil has advanced to trade several levels above the 100-hour moving average line. Nonetheless, Friday’s late pullback prevented the oil price from rallying into the overbought levels of the 14-hour RSI.
WTI Crude Oil Fundamentals Overview
From a fundamental perspective, light crude oil is trading at the back of a relatively busy period in the market. With Russia continuing to issue threats about cutting production, oil prices have continued to benefit ahead of the festive period. The festive period boosts demand while Russia’s threats to cut supply make the priced commodity more scarce. This also comes at the back of strong US GDP data, which seemed to boost the greenback this week.
Looking at the US inventory data, the API weekly crude oil stocks for the week ending December 16 fell to -3.069 million barrels down from the previous week’s equivalent of 7.819 million. On the other hand, the EIA crude oil stocks change for the period edged lower to -5.894 million barrels compared to the previous week’s equivalent of 10.231 million.
WTI Crude Oil Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)
Technically, the light crude oil price appears to be trading within an ascending channel formation in the 60-min chart. This indicates a significant short-term bullish bias in the market sentiment.
Therefore, the bulls will be targeting short-term profits at about $80.62 or higher at $81.72. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce on profits at about $78.49 or lower at $77.42.
WTI Crude Oil Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)
In the daily chart, the WTI crude oil price seems to be trading within a sharply ascending channel formation after a recent rebound. This indicates an attempt by the bulls to take control of the price long-term.
Therefore, the bulls will be targeting extended rebound profits at about $84.82 or higher at $89.54. On the other hand, the bears will be targeting long-term profits at about $74.56 or lower at $70.05.