Oil is higher in Asia-Pac trade, WTI last up....>

OIL: Oil is higher in Asia-Pac trade, WTI last up $0.61 at $59.82 while Brent is

up $0.54 at $63.33. Oil is continuing the its bounce after WTI hit lows of

$58.07 on Friday post Baker Hughes US Rig Count. Oil rigs rose to 791 from 765 a

huge jump for a single week to hit the highest levels since April 2015. The rise

has exacerbated fears that higher prices will draw higher breakeven producers,

such a shale drillers, back into the market at a time when EIA figures have

shown US production at record highs of 10.25mln BPD.

- Oil last week dropped 9.5%, the biggest weekly decline since early 2016.

Meanwhile CFTC data showed that speculators reduced WTI longs in the latest

week, hedge funds in particular cut long positions by the most since August.

- MNI technical analysis sees WTI support at $58.55 - Hourly support Feb 9,

resistance is seen at $59.91 - Hourly support Feb 9 now resistance. Repeated

failures to trouble 2018 highs resulted in a sell-off that sees immediate focus

now on the 100-DMA. Bears now look for a close below the 100-DMA to add weight

to the case for a move then targeting the 200-DMA ($53.16) although the 200-WMA

may slow the move.