WTI crude oil has been flirting with the 200-day moving average all week and finally had a look above it, rising to $77.29. However it wasn’t able to break the weekly high of $77.32 and has backtracked slightly to $77.06.

In all, I wouldn’t be comfortable calling that a technical break but it sets up next week to be an interesting moment in the crude oil market. We should hear soon about Saudi plans on whether to extend voluntary cuts through September so that could be the headline that does it. If not, the market will be looking carefully at US inventory data in the hope that summer inventory draws will pick up.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.