WTI struggles to hold onto recovery gains, seesaws near $23.50

• WTI continues to bear the burden of broad risk-off, seesaws near the 17-year low.
• The US inventory data failed to please the buyers amid broad pessimism, strong US dollar.
• Copper also weighs down as commodities fear the US strength.

WTI stays under pressure for the fourth consecutive day while taking rounds to $23.50 amid the Asian session on Thursday. In doing so, the black gold reverses the pullback moves from 17-year lows marked during the late-US session the previous day.

Broad US dollar strength weighs on the commodities…

Not only oil but copper is also pleasing the bears. The industrial metal opened 9% lower to test the downside daily trading limit for the second day in Shanghai.

The US dollar takes clues from the global rush to safeguard against the coronavirus (COVID-19) via multibillion-dollar stimulus, the ECB was the latest one to fill in the line.

Also weighing on the energy benchmark are worries that the measures to tame the negative implications of the pandemic will weigh on the energy demand.

Furthermore, the news that Saudi Arabia instructed oil major Aramco to keep production at 12.3 million barrels per day offered additional weakness to the commodity.

As a result, the recently positive inventory numbers from the US fail to provide any good signals to the buyers.

While oil market news can offer intermediate moves to the WTI, coronavirus headlines and the global policymakers’ combat against the same will be the key to watch.

Technical Analysis

Unless filling the early-month gap below $41.20 oil prices are less likely to restore the bulls’ confidence. On the downside, fresh selling pressure can be witnessed below $20.00.