Crude Oil futures prices settled at a 6-week low Thursday, hurt by disappointing U.S. economic data which was released Thursday as well as the highest inventories in nearly 27 years. U.S. initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 12,000 in the week ended Aug. 14. Economists had forecast a drop of 4,000.

Claims totaled 500,000 in the week, the highest number since 14 Nov. 2009. Further disappointing data came from the manufacturing industry with the Philadelphia Fed index falling to -7.7 in August compared to 5.1 in July.

Light Sweet Crude Oil for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled down 99 cents, or 1.3%, at $74.43 a barrel, the lowest price since July 7. The contract, which expires at today’s settlement, has fallen from a 3-month high near $83 a barrel on Aug. 4.

Technical Outlook: After the significant drop in oil prices yesterday, we see some strong signs of corrective pressure. The daily chart’s RSI has the pair floating in the over-sold territory, and the Stochastic (slow) appears to show an already-elapsed bullish cross which has turned upward into neutral territory. The momentum appears to favor that forex traders go long and take hold of this swing while the upward momentum holds.

Tags | economic data, inventories, philly index, RSI, stochastic, unemployment