The price of oil is up and down as commodity markets are averagely active. According to API, commercial reserves of oil in the week ending 31st July are down by 4.4 million barrels and stood at 455.3 million barrels.

Alpari: Fundamental Analysis

Brent to Trade $49.30-49.90 per Barrel

The price of oil is up and down as commodity markets are averagely active. Brent is going for $49.79 per barrel (+0.3%). WTI with delivery next month is trading around $49.05 (-0.15%). Yesterday’s Brent minimum was set at $49.02 per barrel and this is a 7 month minimum.

Oil

API data for last week came out down. According to the report, commercial reserves of oil in the week ending 31st July are down by 4.4 million barrels and stood at 455.3 million barrels. The forecasts had indicated a much smaller fall.

It’s worth casting your attention on extraction values for which last week saw a rise by 0.55% (+52,000 barrels per day) to 9.465 million. It seems that it was this indicator that prevented a continuation of the rebound of oil prices. The market is very sensitive to potential growth in supply and this is preventing any rise in price.

The technical picture for Brent is indicating a resistance at $49 and if this is broken the road to $45 will open up. Today’s trading is likely to see Brent trading $49.30-49.90 per barrel. The Bank of England is unlikely to surprise investors later today. Tomorrow’s July labor market data from the US is more likely to have an effect.

Anna Bodrova, senior Alpari analyst