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After being mired in a rather solid bearish trend for a while and starting last Monday rather comfortably below $57.000, WTI Crude Oil suddenly found upwards momentum develop on Wednesday.

After experiencing what can be described as a typical couple of trading days early last week, WTI Crude Oil started to gain price velocity early on Wednesday as talk of stronger Russian sanctions being imposed by the U.S started to cause a rethinking about the value of the commodity.

By the end of Wednesday’s trading the 60.000 USD level was in clear sight and by Thursday WTI Crude Oil was above 62.000. Friday’s high saw a mark around the 62.460 ratio.

• The commodity has gone into this weekend around 61.075 and will certainly open tomorrow’s trading with plenty of eyes watching.

The reason for WTI Crude Oil going higher gathered talking points around the Russian sanctions, but there was more than this simple excuse motivating buyers.

Speculative Momentum and Sentiment Shifts

The ability of WTI Crude Oil to suddenly hit the $60.000 and 61.000 levels and keep driving upwards created price velocity. Speculative buyers who were looking for sustained momentum higher found an ignition key with the Russian sanction talking points, but motivated buyers were lurking beforehand. It is likely algo systems preprogrammed for potential reversals kicked in when WTI Crude Oil started hitting targets.

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After challenging and surpassing the $62.000 level on Thursday and Friday, selling did start to be seen and this likely had something to do with profit taking per speculative wagers being cashed in by large players. But it might have also had something to do with an acknowledgement that the Russian sanction concerns were being overhyped. Plenty of supply remains in the WTI Crude Oil market.

Price Realms and Looking at Near-Term Possibilities

Technical traders are advised to look at a six month chart of WTI Crude Oil. They will see that the current price of the commodity has offered a rather well defined equilibrium. For all the downward motion in WTI Crude Oil seen since the 9th of October, the price of the commodity has returned back to where it was being bet on in the beginning of this month.

• Potential talking points this week for the price of WTI may include the Federal Reserve interest rate cut that will occur this Wednesday, but it might also include the fact that inflation for the time being still remains rather tame.
• And one of the key reasons inflation is rather tranquil is because the price of WTI Crude Oil is calm.
• Traders looking for higher price action should use realistic targets.
• Sustained value above 62.000 might develop, but for unless there is a new dose of impetus from some type of fear seeping into the marketplace, the current price realm may stay a focal point.

WTI Crude Oil Weekly Outlook:

Speculative price range for WTI Crude Oil is 58.750 to 62.800

Trading between the 59.000 and 62.000 price level for WTI Crude Oil may find that it still attracts a lot of attention. Demand for WTI Crude Oil may show some slight increases if pressure regarding Russian sanctions does cause a shift of large users to buy from the U.S and Middle East in greater numbers, but will this really affect values in a substantial manner in the near-term?

Speculative elements certainly showed power last week and this created price velocity, which means that day traders should be cautious as the WTI Crude Oil market opens tomorrow. However, the highs seen last week did see some push back before going into the weekend. Perhaps this is a sign that profit taking took place and there may some additional room for more selling early this week. If WTI does see selling early on Monday and it lingers into Tuesday, this could signal we are going to see lower values tested again. Early buying tomorrow will need to see sustained value above the 61.700 mark to bring other buyers into the market.

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