Crude Oil Price Update – Closed on Bullish Side of Downtrending Gann Angle

February West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures closed higher on light volume ahead of the long holiday week-end. Prices remained near their recent highs on pledges from OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC Russia that any exit from the plan to cut production would be gradual.

Daily Technical Analysis

The main trend is down according to the daily swing chart, however, momentum has been trending higher since February 14. This was the day the market formed a secondary higher bottom in front of the previous bottom from December 7.

Friday’s close at $58.47 puts the market in a position to challenge the February 12 top at $58.60. A trade through this top will change the main trend to up. This move could create the upside momentum to challenge the December 1 main top at $58.90 and the November 24 top at $58.99.

WTI crude oil is also getting support from rising Brent prices which are being pushed higher by an outage of the Forties pipeline in the North Seas. Helping to slow down the rally has been concerns over rising U.S. production.

Taking out $58.99 will also mean that buyers have absorbed OPEC’s decision to extend the production cuts beyond the March deadline to the end of 2018.

Crude oil also finished on the strong side of a downtrending Gann angle that had been providing resistance for four months. This angle dropped in at $58.31. Holding above this angle will indicate the buying is getting stronger.

An uptrending angle from the $56.11 main bottom, moving up at a rate of $0.25 per session, has been guiding the market higher for six sessions. This angle came in on Friday at $57.61.