US crude oil inventories dropped for the seventh consecutive time last week, official figures revealed on Wednesday. The Energy Information Administration reported that US crude stockpiles fell 4.4M barrels in the week ended May 19, following the preceding week's decrease of 1.8M barrels and surpassing expectations for a 2.4M barrel decline. Thus, inventories hit 516.3M barrels, the lowest level since mid-February, suggesting that the OPEC production cut deal began working. The data came out a day before the OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria. Analysts expect that OPEC and non-OPEC countries will likely extend the deal for six more months. Refinery production climbed 159K barrels per day to 17.281M bpd during the reported week, whereas the refinery utilisation rate advanced 0.1% to 93.5%.
The four-week average of crude exports rose 30% to 4.7M bpd last week, compared to the same period a year ago. The EIA also reported that inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, dropped 741K barrels last week. Oil prices rose shortly after the releases, with WTI futures hitting $51.88 per barrel, the highest since April 19.
US Initial Jobless Claims are the only relevant event today
USD/JPY stuck between 110.50 and 112.00
The US Dollar weakened against the Yen on Wednesday, but managed to avoid serious losses by closing at 111.50. However, further bullish potential is now under question, as the 55-day SMA and the weekly pivot point are once again acting as an immediate supply area. A drop back under 111.00 is always possible, due to lack of supports around that area, leaving the monthly PP at 110.48 as the only possible turnaround point unless losses exceed 150 pips. Technical indicators are unable to confirm the possibility of either the negative or the positive outcome, thus, we should not rule out the chance of another leg up and the potential retake of the 112.00 mark.Daily chart
Traders' sentiment remains bearish, with 57% of all open positions being short. Meanwhile, 52% of all pending orders are to buy the Buck.
At the moment, 58% of OANDA clients are long the US Dollar against the Yen, while the remaining 42% are short. In addition, Saxo Bank clients' sentiment slightly improved over the last 24 hours, as 61% of their open positions are now long.
Spreads (avg, pip) / Trading volume / Volatility
Traders are becoming increasingly bullish on the Dollar