Oil prices have held within a roughly $2.50/bbl trading range in the past seven days since the initial post-election $4.27/bbl washout on Nov 7th. While the Israel/Gaza conflict has been supportive for the market, it has only been a factor in the last two days of last week.
This week’s trade in the oil market may witness bottoming action take place, as the U.S. election begins to move to center stage. There may also be an exit from the markets by hedge funds that close their books on Oct 31st, but the impact they actually exert may be somewhat limited in the near-term as their long positioning has already been reduced.
