Brent Crude Oil: quotes have renewed local lows

Current trend

During the Asian session, Brent Crude Oil prices are falling, renewing local lows of the beginning of the month and testing the level of 99.00 for a breakdown. The instrument has lost 23% in value since March 7, after hitting a 14-year high at 139.13.

Investors are gradually returning to risk as the geopolitical situation somewhat stabilizes, but in general, the situation remains quite tense: Russian troops continue to conduct a special military operation on the territory of Ukraine for the third week already. Against this background, sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation from Western countries leads to increased risks for the global economy. Last week, the Russian authorities demanded from the United States guarantees that the economic restrictions imposed would not impede full-fledged trade, economic, and investment cooperation between Moscow and Tehran in the restoration of the agreement on the Iranian nuclear program. And yet, after a long period filled with exclusively negative reports, investors hope that significant progress will be made in the negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations.

The focus of the market is also on the decision of the US Federal Reserve on interest rates, which will be announced on Wednesday evening. Analysts forecast an increase of at least 25 basis points. Still, investors are also awaiting comments from the head of the regulator, Jerome Powell, who may announce specific steps and dates for adjusting monetary policy parameters to curb inflationary pressure in the country soon.

Also, traders monitor the further development of the coronavirus epidemic in China, the world's largest importer of crude oil and the second-largest consumer after the United States. So, the authorities decided to quarantine the city of Shenzhen amid an increase in the incidence of COVID-19 (60 cases of infection were detected). At the moment, all commercial organizations, except for food and fuel, are required to either suspend work or transfer employees to a remote mode.

Support and resistance

On the daily chart, Bollinger bands reverse into a horizontal plane: the price range narrows slightly but remains quite spacious for the current level of activity in the market. The MACD indicator falls, keeping a strong sell signal (the histogram is below the signal line). Stochastic shows similar dynamics, but the indicator line is rapidly approaching its lows, indicating the risks of the instrument being oversold in the ultra-short term.

Resistance levels: 102.80, 105.00, 108.18, 112.00.

Support levels: 100.00, 96.50, 93.34, 91.00.
Fundamental Analysis

Pernyataan Penyangkalan