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Brent Crude Oil is on the up as G7 price cap deals blow The price of Brent Crude oil is once again on the rise, after a slow and steady decline during early to mid November bottomed out at $76.28 per barrel on November 26. Since then, the price has been increasing, and today Brent Crude Oil (WTI) is trading at $81.41 per barrel which is a two week high. This could partly be down to the price cap for oil purchases from Russia having been set by the European Union at $60 per barrel. This was set late last week in the form of a limit on the price of Russian seaborne crude and therefore constrain revenues the Kremlin makes from the commodity. However, the market price of crude oil was at the time around $79 per barrel, meaning that the Russian oil companies refused to sell oil to European Union member states which adhered to this price cap, because it is far below the market value. As a result, demand increased as the potential supply of crude oil to Europe could be affected by the price cap in which European oil purchasers would be expected to adhere to a policy of paying approximately $20 per barrel less than market value for oil imported from Russian oil giants, an offer which of course has been declined by said oil giants as there is no way they will sell oil to commercial clients for three quarters of its real value. At the end of last week, Russian energy industry had issued a warning that an oil price cap could wreak havoc on the energy markets and push commodity prices even higher. They weren't wrong. According to an official document from the European Union, this price limit would be subject to regular review in order to monitor its market ramifications. The document stated that the price should be “at least 5% below the average market price" however the $60 that the cap is currently set at is more than 20% less than the average market value of crude oil. Given that Russia is an OPEC nation and one of its major national industries is the extraction, refinement and export of raw materials for energy generation, there is no likelihood that Russian energy firms would accept this price for oil products. The raw materials that the Russian economy relies so heavily on are consumable commodities, traded on global exchanges and with the ability to be used as collateral to back economic asset classes and against national debts. These are liquid gold and therefore will be valued and treated as such. Volatility in the oil market is here once again. VIEW FULL ANALYSIS VISIT - FXOpen Blog... Disclaimer: This forecast represents FXOpen Companies opinion only, it should not be construed as an offer, invitation or recommendation in respect to FXOpen Companies products and services or as financial advice.

GBP/USD Rallies Further, EUR/GBP Takes A Hit GBP/USD started a fresh increase above the 1.2150 resistance. EUR/GBP failed to stay above the 0.8600 support and declined towards 0.8550. Important Takeaways for GBP/USD and EUR/GBP The British Pound started a fresh increase after it broke the 1.2050 resistance against the US Dollar. There was a break above a major bearish trend line with resistance near 1.2000 on the hourly chart of GBP/USD. EUR/GBP started a fresh decline after it failed to surpass the 0.8675 resistance zone. There was a break below a major contracting triangle with support near 0.8615 on the hourly chart. GBP/USD Technical Analysis The British Pound found support near the 1.1920 zone against the US Dollar. The GBP/USD pair started a fresh increase and was able to clear the 1.2000 resistance zone. There was a also a break above a major bearish trend line with resistance near 1.2000 on the hourly chart of GBP/USD. The pair even surpassed the 1.2150 resistance zone and the 50 hourly simple moving average. GBP/USD Hourly Chart Recently, there was a minor downside correction from the 1.2300 zone. The pair dipped below the 1.2200 level. A low was formed near 1.2134 on FXOpen and the pair started a fresh increase. There was a clear move above the 1.2250 resistance. The pair surpassed the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the 1.2310 swing high to 1.2134 low. It is now trading above the 1.2310 swing high. On the upside, an initial resistance is near the 1.2350 level. It is near the 1.236 Fib extension level of the downward move from the 1.2310 swing high to 1.2134 low. The next main resistance is near the 1.2400 zone. A clear upside break above the 1.2400 and 1.2420 resistance levels could open the doors for a steady increase in the near term. The next major resistance sits near the 1.2500 level. On the downside, an initial support is near the 1.2300 level, below which it could test the 1.2250 support. The next major support is near the 1.2230 level and the 50 hourly simple moving average. Any more losses could lead the pair towards the 1.2200 support zone. VIEW FULL ANALYSIS VISIT - FXOpen Blog... Disclaimer: This forecast represents FXOpen Companies opinion only, it should not be construed as an offer, invitation or recommendation in respect to FXOpen Companies products and services or as financial advice.