CRUDE OIL RALLY FALTERS AS WTI PULLS BACK FROM RISE INTO $80.00

• Crude Oil spiked higher on Wednesday before falling back again.
• WTI climbed to $80.00 before backsliding into $78.50.
• Midweek Fedspeak sends Crude Oil up then back down.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) US Crude Oil rose to its highest bids in a week after US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell noted that the Fed doesn’t see an increased risk of recession in the US economy. WTI quickly reverse course and pulled back down into the $78.50 region, but barrel bids remain in the green on Wednesday after Energy Information Administration (EIA) Crude Oil Stocks Change came in below expectations. This adds to a smaller-than-expected increase in US barrel counts from the American Petroleum Institute (API) late Tuesday.

Fed Chair Powell testified before the US Congressional House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday in the first of a two-day Q&A session on the Fed’s Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report. Fed Chairman Powell noted that he doesn’t see a high risk of a recession in the US economy this year, and that policy easing should begin later this year as long as inflation continues to ease towards the Fed’s 2% target.