Commodities: Crude oil nears resistance as focus settles on Trump inauguration

Crude oil futures were firmly ahead on Friday afternoon but remained camped out below firm resistance levels in a session tinged with caution as controversial US president-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated.

At 15:44 GMT, Nymex-listed West Texas Intermediate crude was up 2.84% to $52.83 a barrel, while Intercontinental Exchange-traded Brent was up 2.84% to $55.70 a barrel.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said oil had rebounded on Friday in the wake of two days of declines.

"A bigger than expected build in US inventories for the second week in a row would appear to suggest that despite OPEC's best endeavours that US shale producers could well be ready to fill any gap caused by OPEC’s cutbacks to support prices," Hewson said.

"Last week US rig counts declined slightly from 665 to 659, but they have been rising consistently on a weekly basis for the last six months, so a minor decline doesn't a trend reversal make, which makes today's weekly number even more important," he added.

SwissQuote commented that WTI crude's short-term reversal looks to have stalled below $55.24 resistance, and the technical structure suggested a near-term correction to $49.61.

"For the time being, the commodity (WTI) is trading mixed. Hourly resistance is given at $53.50," said SwissQuote, adding that WTI was expected to show continued short-term bearish pressures if it broke the $51 level.

Meantime, on Comex, gold was up 0.18% to $1203.7 an ounce, with silver adding 0.46% to $17.08 an ounce and copper gaining 0.73% to 262.95 cents a pound.

Mike van Dulken and Henry Croft, market analysts at Accendo Markets, said gold had recovered from Thursday's sub-$1200 level on safe-haven appeal.

The US dollar's fall from Thursday's highs in anticipation of Trump's inauguration was also a factor.

"A close above $1200 will mark a fourth straight week of gains for the precious metal, in what would be its longest run since July," they said in a statement.

Three-month industrial metals quoted on London Metals Exchange were all lower, with tin faring worst as it slid 1.66% to $20,750 per MT.

Among agriculturals, Chicago Board of Trade-listed corn was up 0.48% to 368 cents a bushel. Wheat was up 0.53% to 425.75 cents a bushel.

On ICE, cocoa dropped 1.48% to $2132 per MT, while cotton No.2 added 0.63% to 73.15 cents a pound. Live cattle was down 0.9% to 118.8 cents a pound.