WTI tumbles to $50 neighborhood and rebounds

Having posted 5-week high near $52.00 mark, WTI crude oil came under some intense selling pressure and dropped below early European session crash lows before recovering back to $50.65-70 band.

Headlines coming out of the crucial OPEC meeting continued to dominate the market moves on Thursday, with oil extending early looses on news that major oil producers would extend cuts in oil output by nine months to March 2018. The news seems to have disappointed market participants expecting a deeper cut and thus, led to a sharp slide as traders resorted to 'sell the fact' strategy. 

   •  OPEC delegate: OPEC agrees to extend oil production cuts for 9 months

The cuts are likely to be shared by non-OPEC members led by Russia and news coming out of OPEC - non-OPEC producers meeting on Thursday should continue to fuel volatility, making it a rollercoaster ride for oil traders before the final announcement. 

Technical levels to watch

Bulls would be disheartened if the commodity decisively breaks through the key $50.00 psychological mark, below which the slide could get extended towards $49.25-20 support area. On the flip side, momentum above $52.00 mark could lift the black gold to $52.65-70 horizontal resistance ahead of $53.00 mark and $53.25 strong resistance.