WTI renews three-week high near $53 ahead of API data

• WTI cheers more China stimulus hopes, US sanction news.
• Broad US dollar strength likely caps the upside in oil.
• Next of relevance remains the US API weekly Crude Stocks data.

WTI (oil futures on NYMEX) picks up fresh bids and renewed a three-week high just shy of the 53 mark in European trading, gaining over 1% so far.

The black gold built on Tuesday’s sharp recovery from the sub-51 area, as the bulls received a fresh boost from improved risk tones, spurred by waning coronavirus worries amid a decline in the number of new cases in China and expectations of more policy support measures due on the card from Beijing.

Oil prices rallied hard in the US last session after the US imposed sanctions on Russian oil giant Rosneft’s trading subsidiary, accusing it of providing a financial lifeline to Venezuela’s government.

The barrel of WTI also remains supported by the expectations that the OPEC and its allies (OPEC+) will extend the output cuts while a sharp drop in Saudi Arabia’s oil exports in 2019 also collaborates with the bullish sentiment seen around the commodity.

Next of note for the oil markets remains the US weekly Crude Stocks Change data due to be published later today at 2130 GMT by the American Petroleum Institute (API). In the meantime, the prices will take cues from broad USD strength and risk sentiment.

WTI Technical levels to consider