Oil quotes rose on Tuesday amid a postponement of new 10% duties on some Chinese goods until December. Nevertheless, bulls failed to overcome the level of $61 per barrel, which acts as a strong local resistance. However, the triumph of buyers was overshadowed by new news from China. China published weak economic data for July, including an unexpected decline in industrial production growth to more than a 17-year low: 4.8% instead of the forecasted 6.0%. This only reinforces market concerns about a global recession. Merrill Lynch showed that one third of surveyed experts predict its onset in the next 12 months, which is the highest percentage since 2011.
Most likely, the decline will continue in the short term. Local support will be the area of $58.6-58.8 per barrel. An additional source of volatility is likely to be US crude oil inventories. The US Department of Energy will release official data on Wednesday. The consensus forecast indicates a decrease in reserves of 2.8 million barrels. According to the American Petroleum Institute, oil reserves grew by 3.7 million barrels last week.