Review

The day session opened a tick below the prior day low and attempted to break lower but failed, and once back inside the prior day range we saw adjustment of the negative inventory.

The market moved higher back through the prior day's value to settle at 2098.00 near the high. Bulls remain in control within the current range and on the longer time frame. The open gap shown below continues to hold and remains an important area for bulls to defend for continuation, though the more attempts into the 83-6 area will weaken the defense.

Above the last two day's highs are weak and show no excess. The balance area shown within the square below is building volume for a directional move but range trading is still expected until we see strong momentum and volume breaking balance.

The attempted breakdown after the open was not supported by market internals - TICK mainly positive, A/D trending higher from low levels and lack of aggressive selling in the cumulative delta.

Overnight

Narrow range - 91.25-98.25 vs 98 settlement, and low volume. ECB rate announcement and OPEC meeting key events.

Plan

Zones for today are below. Main expectation is for market to continue to trade around the current range value area. If we see acceptance above or below the 85.50-87.50 or 97.25-99.25 zones on strong volume and momentum I'm looking for a directional move to go with.