Brent Crude Oil futures stabilized during last week's equity market recovery and are now testing the upper end of the recent trading range at $111.00 per barrel. Despite many expectations, the end of the Libyan conflict has done very little to bring this market down, or to diminish the ver large premium Brent has held over the US crude oil futures.
The recent price swings have carried Brent futures to towards the apex of a very large Rising Wedge chart pattern, with the current price in the middle of the range to leave the short term outlook somewhat neutral. The numerous retests of the upper boundary of this wedge would suggest an overall upward bias to the market however, and strength early in this week's trading may propel the price towards a breakout level above $112.50 per barrel.
Weakness from here would likely bring about another retest of the support at $109.80 to firm up the bottom end of the pattern, with range-bound trading inside support and resistance possible as the longer term trend establishes itself.
