NEARBY MONTH CLOSE SUPPORT RESIST RSI-14 MA-10 MA-20
ICE BRENT 71.65 70.90 72.62 40 75.31 75.73 LCOc1
NYMEX CRUDE 72.14 71.80 73.63 40 75.63 75.67 CLc1
ICE GAS OIL 613.75 600.00 624.25 38 647.73 652.36 LGOc1
NYMEX HEAT 1.9155 1.9155 1.9591 38 2.0231 2.0435 HOc1
NYMEX RBOB 1.9777 1.9705 2.0133 41 2.0717 2.0832 RBc1
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LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures were
edging higher on Monday but technical charts pointed to
continued weakness after a near 9 percent fall last week,
analysts said.
U.S. crude prices fell from a high of almost $80 a barrel
last Monday to finish the week just above key support around the
$72 a barrel level, leading some to warn that a larger
correction could still be on the cards.
Money managers cut net long crude oil positions on the NYMEX
exchange in the week through June 29, the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday, with the key
speculator group reducing net long positions to 74,216 from
79,033 positions in the previous week. [ID:nN02240600]
"U.S. crude prices are towards the bottom of the range seen
since the fourth quarter of 2009 and net speculative length is
also towards the bottom of positions seen in that time-range,"
Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob said, adding they probably
continued to reduce positions during the large sell-off on
Thursday.
Key support for U.S. crude now sits at $71.80 a barrel,
which marks the 50 percent retracement of the short rally from a
low of $64.24 in May to last Monday's high of $79.38 a barrel.
Initial resistance is at $73.59, but many analysts said they
would not turn bullish until prices moved above the key
psychological $75 mark.
FuturesTechs analyst Clive Lambert warned that the Brent
charts risk forming a 'head and shoulders top' if prices
continue to slide -- creating a bearish technical picture that
could trigger further losses.
"It's merely a 'forming' pattern for now. It will be
'formed', and will give us that signal if/when we see a break of
$68.26 a barrel," Lambert said.
At 1115 GMT, U.S. crude oil was trading up 8 cents at $72.22
a barrel, while Brent was up 26 cents at $71.91 a barrel.
(Reporting by David Sheppard; editing by Anthony Barker)
