Maintain long positions. The WTI Crude ended the latest session USD0.26 higher at USD53.24, after giving back some of the intraday gains – the high was posted at USD53.79. Despite the positive performance, the commodity is still trading within the healthy and narrow one-week sideways consolidation pattern. We are still expecting this correction phase to extend into the next 1-2 sessions and take place above USD50.00, before staging another attempt to pierce through the USD54.00-55.00 resistance zone. While the weakening of the RSI reading reflects an ongoing minor consolidation, it is still above its support line (as drawn in the chart). Therefore, it is not of great concern, for now. Maintain our positive trading bias.

We recommend traders stay in long positions. We initiated these at USD49.93, or the closing level of 5 Jan. To manage risks, a stop loss can be placed at the breakeven level.

The immediate support is still pegged at USD52.24 – the low of 14 Jan – followed by USD51.50. On the upside, the resistance is expected to emerge at USD54.00, followed by the USD55.00 threshold.

Source: RHB Securities Research - 21 Jan 2021