Oil saw a rally at the start of the Asia-Pac....>

OIL: Oil saw a rally at the start of the Asia-Pac session of nearly $0.50 from

$51.45 to nearly $52 when headlines came down saying Iraqi forces began

advancing on the Kurdish Held land of Kirkuk which is oil-rich, this follows on

from Sep 26 when the Kurdistan Government made a vote for independence from Iraq

and words from OPEC stating they see crude demand growing at a 'steady pace.'

- On the overnight Crude dipped prior to the release of Baker Hughe's rig count

data but came back up when the figures showed the count was up by around about

the same as prior.

- MNI technical analysis sees support at $52.01 - Hourly support Oct 16 and

resistance at $52.78 - Bollinger band top. A volatile week resulted in a bullish

close with the break of $52.08 adding support to the bullish case for a test of

the $53.11-54.49 region where monthly highs and the bull channel top are

located. Daily studies have room to move before O/B is an issue. Layers of

support are building with bears needing a close below $51.62 to ease bullish

pressure and shift immediate focus back to $49.44-82 where the 55-DMA is noted.