WTI: Off intraday top but stays mildly positive near nine-month high above $47.00

• WTI bulls catch a breather after refreshing the highest levels since March 04, 2020.
• Risks recently benefitted from vaccine news, uncertainty over US stimulus, Brexit weigh on the mood.
• US dollar weakness can keep the oil bulls happy.

WTI eases from intraday peak to $47.15, up 0.27% on a day, amid Friday’s Asian session. The oil benchmark rose to the fresh high in nine months the previous day as the broad US dollar weakness joined hopes of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and stimulus from America. However, challenges to risks, mainly due to the virus woes and Brexit drag, probed the oil bulls.

Having initially cheered the covid vaccine news, the recent announcement from the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) experts that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can be used to tame the pandemic favored the risks off-late. Further, the UK, Bahrain and Canada have already approved the vaccine for emergency usage while Ottawa has started stocking the vaccines. These headlines suggest that the world will soon overcome the pandemic that roiled 2020 and energy demand.

Read: Breaking: US FDA experts recommend Pfizer covid vaccine, risks remain positive

Also supporting the risks are the upbeat concerns that the US Congress members will be able to deliver the much-awaited COVID-19 stimulus.

On the contrary, a record high number of the virus-led death toll from America joins the uncertainty over Brexit to challenge the market sentiment.

Amid these plays, S&P 500 Futures print mild gains, up 0.10% intraday, whereas the US dollar index (DXY) struggles for clear direction after marking the heaviest losses in over a week on Thursday.

Moving on, energy bulls may keep cheering the US dollar weakness and further positive developments surrounding the coronavirus vaccine and American aid package. Though, fears of the greenback’s recovery, due to the likely positive fundamentals after covid vaccine usage in the US, will join the likely increase in the OPEC+ production to probe any further upside.

Technical analysis

March 2020 top near $48.75 is on the WTI buyers’ radars unless the quote declines below the one-week-old support line, at $45.52 now.