Oil Edges Up Amid Technical Signals This Week’s Drop Is Overdone
- Soft US jobs data seen weakening need for more Fed rate hikes
- WTI spread flips to contango for the first time since July
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Oil inched up as technical gauges signaled that crude’s plunge to a three-month low on Wednesday was overdone.
West Texas Intermediate rose 0.5% to settle just below $76 a barrel after a $5 slump in the last two sessions pushed futures into oversold territory on their relative strength index. Prices gained early in the session after a US jobless claims report indicated a cooling labor market that could prompt the Federal Reserve to ease monetary policy. The advance faded in the afternoon after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the US central bank won’t hesitate to tighten policy further if appropriate.