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• WTI attracts heavy selling in reaction to Trump’s reciprocal tariffs announcement.
• Wednesday’s bearish EIA report on US Crude inventories further exerts pressure.
• A broadly weaker USD lends some support to Oil prices and limits further losses.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) US Crude Oil prices extend the previous day's retracement slide from the $72.00 neighborhood, or the highest level since February 21, and attract heavy follow-through selling during the Asian session on Thursday. The commodity, however, finds some support near the $69.00 mark and currently trades around the $69.65 region, still down over 1% for the day.

US President Donald Trump's sweeping reciprocal tariffs fueled concerns that the widening trade war may dent global economic growth and dampen fuel demand. This comes on top of a bearish report published by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday, which showed US crude inventories rose by a surprisingly large 6.2 million barrels last week. This turns out to be a key factors weighing on Crude Oil prices.

Meanwhile, investors now seem convinced that a tariff-driven US economic slowdown might force the Federal Reserve (Fed) to resume its rate-cutting cycle soon. Furthermore, the anti-risk flow triggers a steep decline in the US Treasury bond yields and drags the US Dollar (USD) closer to a multi-month low touched in March. This, in turn, offers some support to USD-denominated commodities and helps limit losses for Crude Oil prices.

Traders now look forward to the US economic docket – featuring the release of the usual Weekly Jobless Claims and the US ISM Services PMI. The data might influence the USD price dynamics and provide some impetus to the black liquid. The focus, however, will remain glued to trade developments, which should continue to play a key role in influencing the near-term sentiment surrounding Crude Oil prices.

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