Oil follows stocks into the low end, WTI tapping into $52.50

• Crude prices remain chained to broader market sentiment, following indexes lower in Tuesday's late-day decline.
• Despite an early-week run into higher territory, WTI remains capped off at near-term cyclical levels.

Crude barrels are following broader markets into the downside after slipping in Tuesday's late session with US oil prices slipping from a near-term high of 54.40, settling back into the 51.60 region heading into Wednesday's early market window.

Last weekend's risk recovery on a tariff truce between the US and China seems to have fully blown over, with investors once again concerned about economic conditions throughout the broader major economies, sparked by refreshed threatening tweets from US President Donald Trump, who reaffirmed that he would be placing "major tariffs" on China if they didn't cut him an acceptable trade deal in the months to come. Trump, who declared himself a "Tariff Man" on Twitter on Tuesday, has sent broader markets back down after playing nice through last weekend's G20 Leader's Summit, where Trump instead struck a moderate, peaceable tone, waiting until he had returned home to resume lambasting his international counterparts from within the safety of the White House.

According Mank of America Merrill Lynch, the majority of major economies are likely to see some decelerating activity, though the bank expects “a steady stream of monetary and fiscal stimulus measures” to help stem the tide.

WTI Technical Levels