Oil futures edged higher Tuesday after steep overnight losses, with chart indicators suggesting the market had become oversold and was due for a bounce, according to The Wall Street Journal.
After touching a session low of $72.69 a barrel — a decline of 1.6% — West Texas Intermediate crude reversed course and was last seen gaining 0.5% to $74.21 a barrel
The international benchmark, Brent crude, held a loss of 0.7% at $77.33 a barrel. FOREX.com’s Fawad Razaqzada pointed to the crude market’s extended losing streak as a setup for a snapback, telling The Wall Street Journal that weeks of downward pressure had pushed momentum gauges into territory historically associated with near-term recoveries. A ceiling near $76.10 a barrel — a level that spent much of the year acting as a floor before prices broke below it — now represents the first significant hurdle for any rally, he said.
Driving the earlier selloff was a U.S. Treasury announcement permitting Iranian oil to be produced, shipped, and sold — and allowing American buyers to receive that crude and pay for it in dollars — under a temporary authorization running through Aug. 21, according to CNBC. The move followed Vice President JD Vance saying Tehran had agreed to allow nuclear inspectors to return.