WTI sold-off into trade war fears, down -1% ahead of EIA data

• Breaches $ 62 mark amid escalating trade war fears.
• The US EIA crude inventory data could offer some respite?

WTI (oil futures on NYMEX) failed to sustain above the $ 62 mark and fell sharply below the last, as a renewed risk-aversion wave hit the markets, with the European traders reacting to the overnight news of the White House Economic Adviser Gary Cohn’s resignation over Trump’s tariffs.

Markets saw Cohn’s departure as a sign of resurgent global trade war concerns and fuelled risk-off trades across the board, as the European equities now join the global sell-off.

The barrel of WTI was also weighed negatively by the bearish API crude stockpiles report, which showed that the US crude inventories rose by 5.661 million barrels last week to 426.880 million barrels, multiplying oversupply concerns.

Also, markets expect the EIA crude supplies data due later on Wednesday to show another rise in the US output levels, which also appears to be discounted by the investors so far this session. The official US government data by the EIA will be reported in the NA session today.

WTI Technicals

At $ 61.96, the resistances are aligned at $ 62.87 (4-day tops), $ 63 (round numbers) and $ 63.83 (classic R2/ Fib R3). On the flipside, the supports are located at $ 61.86/80 (5-DMA/ daily low), $ 61.50 (psychological levels) and $ 60.57 (100-DMA).