Crude Continues Falling On Demand Fears, Lowest Since July

OIL: Crude Continues Falling On Demand Fears, Lowest Since July

Oil prices fell over 2% following the sharp drop on Tuesday as growth concerns in China, fears of further Fed tightening and uncertainty over Russian exports continue to drive markets. They are now at their lowest levels since late July, which should be good news for consumers and central banks but may prompt Saudi Arabia to extend output cuts into 2024. The USD index was flat.

• Brent fell below $80 and is now down 2.3% to $79.70/bbl, through support at $81.02 and opening up $78.89. It had been fairly stable until the European morning and then began moving lower again and reached a low of $79.20. Brent is now down 6.1% in November to date but still 7.4% higher since June 30.
• WTI is down 2.3% at $75.59/bbl having fallen through $77 and $76 before testing $75. It made an intraday low of $74.91. New support at $74.26 has been opened. But WTI is now looking overbought based on its relative strength index, according to Bloomberg.
• Continued weakness in China has impacted oil prices significantly this week as exports & the domestic economy remain soft, air travel lacklustre, refining margins are narrowing and crude & product inventories rising. In addition, Bloomberg reported a 11.9mn barrels crude stock build in the US in the latest week, according to people familiar with the API data.