Oil reverses losses to climb $1 with the US set to respond in the Middle East

<p>There has been no lack of oil news so far this year.</p><p>Headlines from the Red Sea and Middle East have been non-stop and the situation has undoubtedly worsened. However oil has struggled to maintain a bid on shipping woes as we saw as this week's pop was faded immediately after the Sunday open.</p><p>Today though it's the opposite as initial selling down to $75.85 in WTI has reversed with oil now up to $77.87. It's not entirely clear what's behind the reversal but strong US job openings certainly didn't hurt as they underscore US demand. The IMF also bumped up global growth numbers today behind stronger estimates for the US and China.</p><p>The daily chart is still showing a slow recovery from the Sept-Dec drop but $80 is a big hurdle.</p><p>The rally in oil is helping to turn around the Canadian dollar, which is largely back to flat after earlier getting caught in a broad USD bid.</p><p>After the close today we get the latest API numbers and those tend to leak, so they could be showing a stronger drawdown. On Wednesday, we get the official EIA numbers.</p>

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