Crude oil struggles to recover

US crude oil (daily chart shown below), representing the West Texas Intermediate light sweet benchmark, has struggled to recover after having hit a new five-year […]


Blue avatar for FOREX.com guest contributors
By :  ,  Financial Analyst

US crude oil (daily chart shown below), representing the West Texas Intermediate light sweet benchmark, has struggled to recover after having hit a new five-year low just above $43.00 support only three weeks ago in late January.

That low marked a price extreme that capped off a 60% decline within seven months, from the $107.00-area high in June of last year to the noted $43.00-area low in January.

Since January’s low, the price of oil has generally rebounded, but in a choppy, volatile fashion. This rebound has quickly pushed price back up above key support/resistance levels, including $47.00 and $50.00.

US crude oil daily chart

 

Whether crude oil has already bottomed out remains to be seen, but price action is currently trading in a consolidation between $50.00 support to the downside and $55.00 resistance to the upside.

Any sustained climb back above $55.00 resistance, which has not occurred since the end of last year, should put oil on the path to further rebound and recovery. In this event, the major upside target resides around $60.00.

Any sustained downside move below $50.00 support could push prices back down towards key long-term support levels in the low $40s.

Related tags:

Open an account today

Experience award-winning platforms with fast and secure execution.

Web Trader platform

Our sophisticated web-based platform is packed with features.
Economic Calendar