Oil prices fall back on concerns over COVID-19 cases
17 Aug 2021
Brent Oil was trading 0.59% Down at $69.20.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday, paring earlier gains, as expectations that major producers will not boost supply any time soon were outweighed by worries over slowing demand amid a spike in the Delta variant of coronavirus infections.
Brent Crude was down 51 cents, or 0.7%, at $69.00 per barrel as of 0703 GMT, after rising as high as $69.77 earlier in the session.
U.S. West Intermediate crude (WTI) slid 52 cents, or 0.8%, to $66.77 a barrel, after reaching $67.66 earlier.
Japan was set to extend its state of emergency in Tokyo and other regions to Sept. 12 and widen curbs to seven more prefectures, as COVID-19 cases spike while cases are set to “rise substantially” in Sydney in the coming weeks despite a prolonged lockdown, authorities said on Tuesday.
On Monday, Brent slid 1.5% while WTI fell 1.7%.
The prices recovered from those losses in early Asia trade after four sources told Reuters that OPEC+, which groups members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers such as Russia, believes oil markets do not need more crude than they plan to release in the coming months.
Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration urged the producer group to boost oil output to tackle rising gasoline prices that they see as a threat to the global economic recovery.
But the market ran out of steam mid-session amid concerns over the resurgence in the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the technical front Brent Oil , RSI Stood at 39.089, the current price is trading Below All the Moving Averages . So, a Sell trade can be executed with the following target and stop-loss:
TRADE SIGNAL-Brent Oil– SELL: 69.20, TARGET:-64.20, STOP LOSS:- 71.20.