WTI remains vulnerable amid rising coronavirus concerns

• Risk-off in vogue amid intensifying coronavirus fears.
• WTI eyes a break below $52, as US stocks rise also weigh.
• Markets stay focussed on China’s coronavirus news and risk trends.

WTI (oil futures on NYMEX) is seen making minor recovery attempts from a near three-month low of $52.16 reached earlier this week. At the press time, the price trades at 52.70, down 1.25% on a daily basis.

Despite the latest leg up, the black gold remains heavily offered on the back of broad risk aversion, triggered by the rising death toll from the China coronavirus outbreak. The rapidly spreading coronavirus intensifies concerns over its economic impact, in turn weighing down on the oil demand outlook.

Additionally, the sentiment around the barrel of WTI remains dampened by a bigger-than-expected rise in the US Crude Stocks data, reported by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday. The US crude stocks rose by more than seven times market expectations, gaining 3.5 million barrels in the week to Jan. 24, the EIA data showed.

Looking ahead, oil traders await the US Q4 GDP release for fresh insights into the US economic outlook and dollar trades, which eventually impact the USD-sensitive oil. Meanwhile, the risk-off sentiment, driven by the coronavirus concerns, will continue to keep the bearish pressure intact on the commodity.  

WTI Technical levels to consider