On Friday, the crude oil prices were higher and tracked for the second week of gains amid increasing confidence that demand for oil is starting to pick up despite the coronavirus pandemic that has slammed economies worldwide.
Despite Thursday's upbeat U.S. jobs data, the broad-based U.S. dollar failed to gain any positive traction and edged lower on the day as doubts over the U.S. economic recovery remain amid coronavirus crisis. However, the U.S. dollar losses could also be attributed to the uptick in the U.S. stock futures. The losses in the U.S. kept the oil prices higher as the oil price is negatively related to the price of the U.S. dollar. Whereas, the U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies dropped 0.08% to 93.243.
Elsewhere, the crude oil gains were also capped by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) forecast earlier in the week that world oil demand will likely fall by 9.06 million BPD this year increase from the 8.95 million BPD decline forecasted last month.
Moreover, the gains in the crude oil prices seemed rather unaffected by the disappointing Chinese data released earlier in the day. At the data front, July's industrial production increased by 4.8% year-on-year but missed the 5.1% increase in forecasts. In the meantime, retail sales dropped 1.1% in the same month, against the forecasted 0.1%. The unemployment rate continued stable at 5.7%.
There are no significant data in the Asian session on the day, which will keep the market light ahead. However, the market traders will keep their eyes on the USD price dynamics and coronavirus headlines, which could play an essential part in changing the intraday momentum. As well as, the traders will keep their eyes on the U.S. Retail Sales m/m data.
Daily Support and Resistance
S1 41.17
S2 41.91
S3 42.24
Pivot Point 42.65
R1 42.98
R2 43.39
R3 44.13
On the technical side, the WTI crude oil prices are trading with a bearish bias at 41.95, and it may find resistance at 42.95 level. On the 4 hour timeframe, the USOIL is gaining support above an upward trendline. On the lower side, the WTI is likely to find support at 41.56. Below this, the pair is likely to find support at 40.50 level. Let's consider taking sell trades below 41.56 or buying above the same level today. Good luck!