Crude Oil Futures: Rising odds for further consolidation

CME Group’s flash data for crude oil futures markets noted traders extended the uptrend in open interest for the 4^th session in a row on Thursday, this time by around 12.4K contracts. Volume followed suit and rose for the thirds straight session, now by around 63.1K contracts.

WTI remains focused on $90.00 and above

Prices of the WTI extended the weekly recovery on Thursday. The small uptick was in tandem with increasing open interest and volume and opens the door to some consolidation in the very near term and with the immediate target at the $90.00 mark per barrel and beyond.

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Crude Oil Futures: Extra weakness not ruled out

CME Group’s flash data for crude oil futures markets noted traders reduced their open interest positions for the fourth consecutive session on Thursday, this time by around 5.5K contracts. Volume followed suit and reversed two straight builds and shrank by around 184.3K contracts.

WTI could retest monthly lows near $76.00

Prices of the barrel of WTI charted and inconclusive session on Thursday. The move was on the back of declining open interest and volume and exposes some lack of direction in the very near term, while the resumption of the previous downtrend should not be ruled out. Against that, another visit to the September low at $76.28 (September 26) remains in the pipeline.

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EUR/USD Price Analysis: Upside remains capped by 1.0100

 

• EUR/USD fades the initial bull run to 0.9985/90.
• The resumption of the selling pressure could retest the YTD low.

EUR/USD climbed to the proximity of 0.9990 earlier in the session, just to deflate afterwards and return to the 0.9930 region.

Against that, the inability of the pair to regain serious upside traction should keep the door to further retracement open in the near term. Extra losses face the immediate target at the 2022 low at 0.9877 (September 5) seconded by 0.9859 (December 2002 low) and then 0.9685 (October 2002 low).

The continuation of the downtrend remains in the pipeline, as the daily RSI around 36 still allows for some weakness prior to reach the oversold territory.

In the longer run, the pair’s bearish view is expected to prevail as long as it trades below the 200-day SMA at 1.0780.

When are the US durable goods orders and how could they affect EUR/USD?

 

US durable goods orders overview

Wednesday's US economic docket highlights the release of Durable Goods Orders data for July. The US Census Bureau will publish the monthly report at 12:30 GMT and is expected to show that headline orders rose 0.6% during the reported month, marking a notable slowdown from the 2% increase recorded in June. Orders excluding transportation items, which tend to have a broader impact, are anticipated to grow by a modest 0.2% in July as compared to a 0.4% rise reported in the previous month.

Analysts at Wells Fargo offer a brief preview of the report and explain: “Demand for goods is slowing. That is as true for business spending as it is for personal consumption. For businesses, the growing concern the economy is about to tip into recession is weighing on activity, as well as higher borrowing costs and demand largely having been pulled forward throughout the pandemic.”

How could it affect EUR/USD?

Ahead of the key data, the emergence of fresh US dollar buying drags the EUR/USD pair back closer to its lowest level since December 2002 touched the previous day. A stronger-than-expected domestic data will reinforce hawkish Fed expectations, which, in turn, should result in higher US Treasury bond yields and a stronger USD.

Conversely, a weaker report will further fuel concerns about a global economic downturn and weigh on investors' sentiment, offering some support to the greenback's safe-haven status. This, along with fears of a prolonged energy-supply crunch in the Eurozone, suggests that the path of least resistance for the EUR/USD pair is to the downside.

That said, any immediate market reaction is more likely to be short-lived as market participants might prefer to wait on the sidelines ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's appearance at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday. Nevertheless, a big divergence from the expected readings might still provide some meaningful impetus to the EUR/USD pair.

Eren Sengezer, Editor at FXStreet, meanwhile, offered a brief technical outlook for the EUR/USD pair: “On the four-hour chart, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator stays well below 40 after having moved out of the oversold territory on Tuesday. Additionally, EUR/USD is yet to make a four-hour close above the descending regression channel coming from August 12. Both of these technical developments suggest that the pair's latest recovery was a technical correction rather than a reversal..”

Eren also outlined important technical levels to trade the EUR/USD pair: “In case the pair starts using 0.9950 (static level, upper limit of the descending regression channel) as support, it could face interim resistance at 0.9975 (20-period SMA) before testing parity. On the downside, 0.9900 (static level, psychological level) aligns as first support before 0.9870 (former resistance area from October 2002) and 0.9800 (psychological level).”

US Dollar Index Price Analysis: The surpass of the YTD high exposes 109.77

 

• DXY remains bid and flirts with the 2022 top near 109.30.
• Further north of comes the September 2002 high around 109.80.

DXY keeps the rally well and sound and trades at shouting distance from the YTD highs near 109.30 on Tuesday.

The continuation of the upside momentum looks increasingly likely in the very near term. That said, beyond the 2022 high at 109.29 (July 14) the index could challenge the September 2002 peak at 109.77 prior to the round level at 110.00.

In the meantime, while above the 6-month support line near 105.10, the index is expected to keep the short-term positive stance.

Looking at the long-term scenario, the bullish view in the dollar remains in place while above the 200-day SMA at 100.49.

Russia suspends oil exports via southern leg of Druzhba pipeline – Reuters

Citing two sources familiar with the operation, Reuters reported on Tuesday that Russia suspended oil exports via the southern leg of the Druzhba pipeline from early August due to issues relating to transit fees.

"According to the sources, the payment from Russia's pipeline monopoly Transneft to Ukraine's pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta did not go through," Reuters explained.

Market reaction

Crude oil prices rose sharply with the initial reaction to this development. As of writing, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate was trading at $91.85, where it was up 1.55% on a daily basis.

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