Crude Oil Futures: Further upside seen limited

CME Group’s preliminary data for crude oil futures markets noted traders scaled back their open interest positions for the third session in a row on Thursday, this time by around 40.3K contracts. On the other hand, volume went up sharply by around 185.3K contracts, reaching at the same time the fourth consecutive build.

WTI struggles near $41.50

Prices of the WTI rallied more than 3% and closed above the $41.00 mark per barrel on Thursday. The advance, however, was amidst the continuation of the downtrend in open interest, which is indicative that extra gains could lose traction in the very near-term.