Crude oil futures trade steady, Brent inches towards $35/bbl levels

Crude oil futures traded steady at Rs 2,413 per barrel on May 19 as participants increased their long positions. Prices jumped after drug maker Moderna reported promising results of its experimental vaccine in an early-stage trial.

The black gold was boosted by signs that OPEC+ has cut output sharply in the first half of May and demand is picking up as several countries eased lockdown restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

WTI Crude Oil has surged from $25 to $32 in a matter of days on account of lower inventories in the US and easing lockdowns across major economies.

In the futures market, crude oil for June delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 2,467 and an intraday low of Rs 2,372 per barrel on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, black gold has touched a low of Rs 1,361 and a high of Rs 4,415.

Crude oil futures for May delivery slipped Rs 4, or 0.17 percent, to Rs 2,398 per barrel at 15:15 hours IST on a business turnover of 2,384 lots. The same for July delivery eased Rs 27, or 1.09 percent, to Rs 2,456 per barrel on a business volume of 172 lots.

The value of June and July contracts traded so far is Rs 1,191.37 crore and Rs 5.31 crore, respectively.

Sunilkumar Katke, Head of Commodities and Currency at Axis Securities, expects crude to see some consolidation on May 19 due to profit booking backed by fresh short build-up. He recommends selling MCX June Crude Oil futures around Rs 2,450 levels, with a stop-loss at Rs 2,510 for a target of Rs 2,330 levels on May 19.

Tapan Patel- Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities, expects international oil prices to trade higher with support at $30 and resistance at $34. He sees support for MCX June Crude oil futures at Rs 2,330 and resistance at Rs 2,510 levels.

West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.51 percent at $31.49 per barrel, while Brent crude, the London-based international benchmark, was up 0.63 percent at $34.59 per barrel.

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