COMMODITIES: WTI Futures Continue to Trade Just Ahead of Support at 50-Day EMA

WTI futures traded higher last week as the contract extended recent gains. A stronger reversal to the upside has exposed key short-term resistance at $76.41, the Oct 8 high. A firm resistance at $71.97, the Nov 7 high, has been breached, strengthening a bullish theme. On the downside, a reversal lower would expose support at the 20-day EMA, at $70.49. This average is seen as a key short-term support. A bear threat in Gold remains present despite the latest recovery, The yellow metal traded sharply lower on Dec 18 and the move undermines a recent bull theme. A resumption of weakness would open key support at $2536.9, the Nov 14 low. The first firm support to watch is $2583.6, the Dec 19 low. On the upside, a resumption of gains would instead signal scope for a climb towards resistance at $2726.2, the Dec 12 high.

• WTI Crude down $0.14 or -0.19% at $73.83
• Natural Gas up $0.29 or +8.5% at $3.637
• Gold spot down $8.18 or -0.31% at $2631.91
• Copper up $1.45 or +0.36% at $409.1
• Silver up $0.13 or +0.44% at $29.7411
• Platinum up $9.26 or +0.99% at $948.25

A bull cycle in the Eurostoxx 50 futures contract remains intact. However, the recent move down continues to highlight a corrective phase and despite the latest bounce, a short-term bear threat remains present - for now. Key short-term support has been defined at 4829.00, the Dec 20 low. A break of it would confirm a resumption of the bear cycle and open 4800.87, a Fibonacci retracement. Initial firm resistance to watch is at 4942.00, the Jan 2 high. A bear threat in the S&P E-Minis contract remains present. The reversal lower from the Dec 26 high, highlights the end of the recent Dec 20 - 26 corrective bounce. Attention is on 5866.00, the Dec 20 low and a key short-term support. Clearance of this level would strengthen a bearish theme. Initial firm resistance to monitor is 6107.50, the Dec 26 high. Clearance of this level is required to open key resistance at 6178.75, the Dec 6 high.

• Japan's NIKKEI closed lower by 587.49 pts or -1.47% at 39307.05 and the TOPIX ended 28.54 pts lower or -1.02% at 2756.38.
• Elsewhere, in China the SHANGHAI closed lower by 4.507 pts or -0.14% at 3206.923 and the HANG SENG ended 71.98 pts lower or -0.36% at 19688.29.
• Across Europe, Germany's DAX trades higher by 81.84 pts or +0.41% at 19989.21, FTSE 100 lower by 11.2 pts or -0.14% at 8212.75, CAC 40 up 47.39 pts or +0.65% at 7329.61 and Euro Stoxx 50 up 40.2 pts or +0.83% at 4911.65.
• Dow Jones mini up 44 pts or +0.1% at 43067, S&P 500 mini up 21.5 pts or +0.36% at 6011, NASDAQ mini up 119.5 pts or +0.56% at 21636.

Of note:

EURUSD 1.65bn at 1.0300.

EURGBP 1.29bn at 0.8300 (wed).

USDJPY 1.45bn at 157.50 (wed).

EURUSD 1.1bn at 1.0350 (thu).

• EURUSD: 1.0300 (1.65bn), 1.0320 (391mln), 1.0350 (726mln), 1.0380 (961mln), 1.0400 (516mln).
• GBPUSD: 1.2500 (555mln).
• USDCAD: 1.4420 (562mln).
• USDCNY: 7.3500 (848mln).