Crude Oil finds late bump but still sheds weight on Tuesday as WTI grapples with $78

• WTI fell back into familiar lows on Tuesday before a late-day jump.
• API barrel counts fell back further than expected.
• Broad-market sentiment is struggling under the weight of higher-for-longer Fed rates.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) US Crude Oil fell to $77.30 on Tuesday as market sentiment regarding Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate cut expectations begins to crumble, but a late-day Crude Oil supply update from the American Petroleum Institute (API) helped to bolster barrel bids.

According to barrel counts from the API, Weekly Crude Oil Stocks for the week ended May 10 fell much more than expected. US Crude Oil Stocks tracked by the API recorded a -3.104 million barrel drawdown, well below the forecast -1.35 million barrel decline and entirely eating away the previous week’s 509K barrel gain.

Crude Oil prices have been in a slump recently as it looks increasingly likely the ongoing Israel-Palestinian Hamas conflict is not going to spill over to neighboring countries and pose a threat to global Crude Oil production and supply. Further weighing on Crude Oil bids is US inflation, which continues to print higher than expected and keeping the Fed’s hands tied when it comes to interest rate cuts, hobbling broad-market risk appetite as investors look for signs the Fed could cut rates sooner rather than later.

US Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation figures are due on Wednesday and threaten to destabilize intraday market volatility if inflation continues to run hotter than market forecasts can adapt to.

WTI technical outlook

US Crude Oil trades within a near-term demand zone between $78.00 and $77.00. A bullish extension to the topside will need to overcome the last major swing high near $79.60, while a bearish pierce of technical prices near $77.00 will threaten an extended run into prices set in March.

WTI hourly chart

WTI daily chart