WTI price on track for second straight weekly loss, platinum nears key support, gold muted
Technical outlook on WTI as it heads for second consecutive weekly loss amid release of massive strategic oil reserves. Platinum meanwhile off 20% from its March high and nearing key support while gold remains sidelined.
WTI heads for second straight weekly loss
WTI continues to decline and is on track to see its second consecutive weekly drop in the wake of International Energy Agency (IAE) members' massive strategic oil reserve taps and demand concerns in China due to Covid-19 lockdowns.
A release of 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves has been agreed which comes on top of the 180 million barrels the US released last week.
WTI’s slip through its five-month uptrend line, 55-day simple moving average (SMA) and the psychological $100 mark has taken the price of oil close to the mid-March low at $92.45. Failure there would put the $90 region back on the cards.
Above the 55-day SMA and breached uptrend line at $98.06 to $99.20 resistance can be found at this week’s high at $104.80.
Platinum is slipping towards key long-term support in the $900 region
The price of platinum has already dropped by around 20% from its early March $1,183 Russian invasion of Ukraine peak and is seen heading down towards the 200-week SMA at $934.63.
Below it lies a key long-term support zone which goes back to May 2017 and comes in at $915 to $891.
While yesterday’s low at $945 holds, though, a minor bounce back towards the mid-March low at $983 may ensue.
While the precious metal remains below its 30 March high at $1,005 on a daily chart closing basis, the downtrend remains intact.
Gold continues to be sidelined
The volatility has seeped out of the price of gold with it continuing to trade in a tight range while remaining below Thursday’s $1,950 high as investors mull over additional sanctions on Russia.
Strong support remains to be seen between the 55-day SMA and the mid- to late March lows at $1,901 to $1,891 while significant resistance can be spotted in the $1,959 to $1,974 region. It consists of the September and November 2020, January 2021, and February 2022 highs and as such is expected to again cap, if revisited.
The decreasing volatility is reflected by converging Bollinger Bands which need to be closely watched in the days to come as they can give an early indication of volatility increasing again with sharp moves in the price of gold occurring once more.
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