Oil (WTI) – Assessing Volatility Within a Choppy RangeUS Tech 100 IndexPEPPERSTONE:NAS100PepperstoneOil (WTI) prices began the start of a new month of trading by rebounding strongly from a test of 6-week lows at 89.327 on Friday. This morning Oil spiked 2% to trade at 92.77 (045 BST) on disappointment that the US-Iran could not reach terms over the weekend to extend their existing ceasefire agreement for another 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, leaving the macro backdrop uncertain with the conflict now in its 14th week. Further complicating the negotiations are an escalation of a war between Israel and Hezbollah, who is Iran’s strongest ally in the region. This has seen Israel launch a new ground assault moving deeper into Lebanon, which led Hezbollah to increase missile attacks on Israel’s north over the weekend. It is unclear whether either side would pause to allow a new agreement between US-Iran to be reached. Looking forward, progress updates on whether these separate events in the Middle East are heading towards a positive or negative conclusion could be pivotal to the direction of Oil prices across the week. Technical Update: Choppy Sideways Range Extends: Between the March 9th high and March 10th low, an Oil (WTI) price sell-off of nearly 36% materialised, and while price moves have subsequently seen volatile swings, these have been confined by those March 9th and 10th extremes. As the chart below shows, even with sentiment still being driven by the constant flow of headlines on the US-Iran conflict, the market continues to trade in a broad sideways range, suggesting a closing breakout of either side may be necessary to reveal the next directional theme. Given the wide range and elevated volatility, further price swings are still possible, even if they remain inside the broader consolidation. In this environment, tracking more intermediate support and resistance levels inside the wider range could help gauge the shorter‑term directional potential. Potential Support Levels: After the latest phase of weakness, traders may now be looking for support levels that could possibly stabilise price declines or even trigger recovery attempts. Following the recent falls, the focus for traders may be on 89.02, which is the April 20th low. A closing break below 89.02 could increase downside pressure and expose the next support at 82.60, which is the April 17th low. Within the current daily structure, 82.60 appears to mark the lower boundary of the sideways range, making it a potentially important level to monitor for the longer‑term outlook. Potential Resistance Levels: If a more sustained price recovery is to develop, traders may be watching how the 93.61 level, which represents half of last week’s range, is defended on a closing basis. While not a guarantee of price strength, closing breaks above 93.61 could encourage further upside attempts. As the chart above shows, breaks above 93.61 may shift attention toward higher resistance levels, possibly opening scope for tests of 96.98, the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of the May decline, and potentially then the 50% retracement at 99.29. The material provided here has not been prepared accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Whilst it is not subject to any prohibition on dealing ahead of the dissemination of investment research, we will not seek to take any advantage before providing it to our clients. Pepperstone doesn’t represent that the material provided here is accurate, current or complete, and therefore shouldn’t be relied upon as such. The information, whether from a third party or not, isn’t to be considered as a recommendation; or an offer to buy or sell; or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security, financial product or instrument; or to participate in any particular trading strategy. It does not take into account readers’ financial situation or investment objectives. We advise any readers of this content to seek their own advice. Without the approval of Pepperstone, reproduction or redistribution of this information isn’t permitted.