WTI Crude Holds Ground Amid Volatility: Bias Turns Neutral
Bias shift to Neutral from Neutral / Bearish
WTI Crude Oil Futures (May)
Yesterday’s Settlement: 60.70, down -1.29 [-2.08%]
WTI Crude Oil futures ended lower yesterday after an extremely volatile day. Crude was not alone, as the S&P 500 saw historic volatility alongside treasury futures. Traders (us included) were expecting the White House to use last weekend to walk back or soften the tone around tariffs.
This did not happen, and the Sunday night open featured a sharp gap lower across risk assets.
Risk-off was the tone overnight into the early morning. Then, shortly after the U.S. open, there was a rumor circulated on Twitter that the Trump administration was considering a 90-day delay to reciprocal tariffs. The rumor caught fire and sparked a ferocious risk-on trade. Crude oil, alongside equities, exploded higher.
The White House responded to the rumor shortly thereafter, declaring it Fake News. Crude oil markets promptly sold back off, but traded above the overnight low for the remainder of the session into today despite an additional 50% tariff announced on China, bringing their tariff rate to 104%.
The fact risk-assets have not made new lows after the additional 50% gives us hope that risk-sentiment is starting to turn. In our opinion, risk is skewed to the upside in the short to medium term.
Today, futures are higher by +0.50 [+0.82%] to 61.20
Today’s macro environment is trading risk-on and we’re seeing broad-based dollar weakness.
The macro environment is driving price action in crude oil right now. This will continue to be the case until OPEC+ drops some clues on their mindset moving forward. We’ll be watching closely for any updated rhetoric out of Saudi Arabia.
Trump is hyping up trade deals and talking positively while risk is catching a bid for the first time this month. Again, we’ve shifted our view and see risk being skewed to the upside.
Technical Analysis:
Yesterday’s whipsaw volatility across risk-assets will likely have some ripple effects. Margin calls, liquidations and de-risking across the financial space could drive sizeable market flows for the remainder of the week.
We can not emphasize the importance of risk-management enough in this environment. Position sizing should be pared down while trade selection should tighten up.
We have shifted our Bias to Neutral, from Bearish / Neutral as risk sentiment seems to be turning. Our view could shift if an ugly U.S. open is realized. Our target on the upside is the….
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