Oil swings near five-month high on Mideast risk, diesel doubts
Brent settles above US$109 a barrel after jumping almost 4% on Oct 16
Oil prices edged close to a five-month high on Friday, October 16, driven by supply risks from escalating conflicts in the Middle East. The Brent benchmark settled above US$109 a barrel after jumping nearly 4% on the day. However, technical resistance limited the rally, as it pushed prices into overbought territory on the nine-day Relative Strength Index.
Traders are cautious, as trend-following commodity trading advisers have reached their maximum long positions for both Brent and WTI. Meanwhile, diesel exports to Russia, a hot topic in Washington, remain uncertain due to lawmakers' opposition to the deal. Despite this, Iraq has exported over 3.4 million barrels of crude daily in October, nearing pre-conflict levels.
The markets are hesitant to absorb the price surge as the overall economy shows signs of weakness, leading analysts to expect Brent to remain rangebound around US$100 a barrel.
Written by urgent.news from The Business Times - Companies & Markets's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
