Oil ends down after swinging on Russia fuel ban, U.S. crude stays below $90
Investing.com — Oil prices swung Thursday, initially rallying on Russia’s fuel export ban before ending lower as a renewed hawkish stance by the Federal Reserve boosted the dollar, weighing on most commodities.
U.S. crude’s struggle to stay above the key bullish level of $90 per barrel also raised questions on how seriously some viewed the market as overbought.
New York-traded West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, crude for delivery in November settled at $89.63 per barrel, down 3 cents, or 0.03%, on the day. WTI earlier hit an intraday high of $90.98. The U.S. crude benchmark fell almost 1% on Wednesday, after reaching a 10-month high of $92.43 in the prior session.
WTI has to re-enter $90 territory to avoid being pushed to mid-$80 levels, said Sunil Kumar Dixit, chief technical strategist at SKCharting.com.
“WTI’s charts are showing that Unless the $91 or $92 levels are reclaimed, a further test of the Daily Middle Bollinger Band could take WTI to $86.75,” said Dixit. “Beyond that, a test of the 100-Week SMA, or Simple Moving Average, of $86 is very likely.”
London-traded Brent crude settled at $93.30 a barrel, down 23 cents, 0.3%. Like WTI, Brent also fell 1% on Wednesday. The global crude benchmark hit a 10-month high of $95.96 the day before.
Oil prices saw a volatile session on Wednesday after Russia temporarily banned exports of gasoline and diesel to all countries outside a circle of four ex-Soviet states with immediate effect in order to stabilize the domestic fuel market, the government said on Thursday.
The shortfall will force Russia's fuel buyers to shop elsewhere, prompting refiners to process more of a dwindling crude supply to meet that demand, said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.
“Crude prices were ready to
Read more on investing.com
