Down Sharply In Wednesday Trade

Brent crude moved away from recent highs post the Asia close. From above the $88/bbl level, we got close to $85/bbl late in NY trade. We closed near $85.80/bbl, a loss of 2.09%. We still sit higher compared to levels from the end of last week ($84.58/bbl). For Brent, the 200-day EMA sits just under $85/bbl. WTI was last near $83.30/bbl, extending losses from Wednesday's session (where we fell 2.88%).

• Sentiment was weighed by a NY times report that multiple pieces of intelligence show that key Iranian leaders were surprised by the Hamas attack in Israel.
• A BBG report this morning has stated the Biden administration is weighing re-freezing $6bn in fund transfer to Iran, although the same report notes that "US intelligence has no evidence yet that Iran directed attack" (see this link for more details).
• New wires are also reported that API data showed a large rise in US oil inventories last week, see this link from DJ for more details). This comes ahead of the official EIA data due later today in the US.
• Also see the MNI Commodity Weekly for more insights .