Crude oil prices traded higher yesterday amid the lack of oil-related reports. WTI crude oil CFDs opened at $60.44 and bottomed at $60.13. The commodity then steadily traded higher to an intraday high of $60.79. By the day’s close, the crude oil prices had settled at $60.66.
Yesterday’s move looked more technically-driven given that there were no reports released that were directly related to oil. However, it could also be that the weaker dollar benefitted crude oil prices in yesterday’s trading.
Durable Goods Orders and New Home Sales Fall in December
The Census Bureau reported that new orders placed with manufacturers fell in the month of November. Durable goods orders contracted by 2.0% during the month. On the other hand, the market consensus was for a small uptick of 0.2%. Meanwhile, core durable goods orders printed at 0.0%. It was expected that the reading which excludes orders for transportation would have grown by 1.5% in November. Lastly, new home sales only grew by 719,000 and fell short of the market consensus for an increase of 730,00.
Richmond Manufacturing Index Due Today
For today, only the Richmond Manufacturing Index is due for release. The index which measures the level of optimism among executives in the industry is estimated to print at 1.0.
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Crude Oil Price Outlook
On the 4-hour time frame, we can see that crude oil prices bounced off resistance at the 100 SMA. It also coincided with the 50% Fib level when you draw the Fibonacci retracement tool from the high of December 19 to the low of December 20. If sellers dominate today’s trading, crude oil prices could slide to $60.15 where the 200 SMA and yesterday’s low coincides with yesterday’s low.
On the other hand, if there are enough buyers in today’s trading, crude oil prices could push higher to their December 20 highs at $61.21.
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