Oil prices slide on US rig count number
Oil prices at both the sides of the Atlantic dropped more than 1% after data released on Friday showed number of oil rigs in the US increased for the 10th straight week.
At the time of writing, WTI oil was down 1.7% at $45.08. Brent oil was down 1.52% at $47.28. Rising US rig count suggests the problem of oversupply in the US is here to stay for a long time. Meanwhile, strong dollar on account of hawkish Fed speak is also adding to the bearish pressure around oil.
Specs lose interest
The CFTC data released on Friday showed that oil speculators failed to buy into the production freeze story, cutting down net long positions. The net positions remain at 285.8K vs. previous 341.3K.
Brent Technical Levels
Oil continues to dive lower, pressured by the resistance at $47.62 (4-hourly 50-MA), with the nearest support at $46.95 (Sept. 7th Low), followed by $46.74 (4-hourly 200-MA) and the channel support at around $46.40.
On the upside the key barrier to break remains the daily high at $47.76, which also happens to be the 100-DMA, above which $48.23 remains a stiff resistance.