Oil Jumps Two Percent on Supply Disruption Threats

The U.S cruise missile strikes have seen crude oil jump over two percent in a straight line with both Brent and WTI testing resistance.

The situation remains fluid in Syria at the moment as the implications of the massive cruise missile strike from the United States gets digested. Among the most pressing questions will be,

  1. Is this a one-off attack and are other nations going to join in?
  2. What will be the response of Iran and Russia? Two of the world’s largest oil producers and staunch allies of the Assad regime.
  3. What will be the response of the North Koreans and indeed the Chinese? This is a clear message to them as well.

All of this adds up to potential turmoil in the world and also to potential supply disruptions to crude which have reacted as expected and moved materially higher. We will have to wait for these answers as the day moves on, but unsurprisingly, it would be expected that both crudes will remain bid on any dips.

Brent spot is trading at 52.60 a barrel and has major resistance just above at 57.00, a daily close above here opening a possible technical move to the 60.00 area.

WTI spot is trading at 52.30 a barrel testing resistance right here. A break opens a technical move to the long-term resistance at the 54.50/55.00 level.

The market will be very much headline driven today, what is not in dispute is that safe-haven flows will be the theme of the day.

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Jeffrey Halley

Jeffrey Halley

Senior Market Analyst, Asia Pacific, from 2016 to August 2022
With more than 30 years of FX experience – from spot/margin trading and NDFs through to currency options and futures – Jeffrey Halley was OANDA’s Senior Market Analyst for Asia Pacific, responsible for providing timely and relevant macro analysis covering a wide range of asset classes. He has previously worked with leading institutions such as Saxo Capital Markets, DynexCorp Currency Portfolio Management, IG, IFX, Fimat Internationale Banque, HSBC and Barclays. A highly sought-after analyst, Jeffrey has appeared on a wide range of global news channels including Bloomberg, BBC, Reuters, CNBC, MSN, Sky TV and Channel News Asia as well as in leading print publications such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, among others. He was born in New Zealand and holds an MBA from the Cass Business School.
Jeffrey Halley
Jeffrey Halley

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