WTI: Bullish start to the week, $ 58 tested amid trade hopes

• Oil renews two-month tops amid US-China trade deal hopes.
• Aramco’s IPO to keep the prices buoyed in the week ahead.
• Focus will remain on trade developments and US weekly supplies.

WTI (oil futures on NYMEX) opened the week on a positive note, having refreshed two-month highs at 57.98, as the US-China trade deal optimism continues to underpin the market sentiment amid a sharp drop in US Rigs Count and Aramco’s IPO offer.

On Friday, the US Administration official hinted at the US-China trade progress and said that a trade deal now looks more likely, boosting the overall risk sentiment that sent the key Wall Street indices to record highs. The risk-on market profile benefited the higher-yielding oil as well, as the prices rose nearly 1% last Friday.

Moreover, bullish Baker and Hughes US weekly Rigs Count data also bolstered the renewed upside in the black gold. The data showed a fourth straight weekly decline in the rigs count, coming in at 674 vs. 684 previous.

The barrel of WTI, currently, continues to sustain the upside, despite the US crude inventory build seen last week. The official weekly US Energy Information Administration (EIA) Crude Stocks data showed last Thursday that the US crude stockpiles rose by 2.2 million barrels, versus expectations for a 1.649 million-barrel rise.

Is Aramco’s IPO really the oil industry’s holy grail?

The buoyant tone around the commodity can be also attributed to the Saudi oil giant, Aramco’s, IPO offier that opened on Sunday and will run through until December 4, just before the OPEC meeting in Vienna.

In the week ahead, the US-China trade developments will be closely eyed alongside the US weekly oil supply reports and Aramco news to gauge the next direction in the prices.

WTI Levels to watch