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Crude Oil’s Long Downtrend Still Shapes Price Direction

By: Razan Hilal, Market Analyst

Crude oil prices are once again aligning with a dominant trend that has governed market behavior for several years. The easing of geopolitical supply disruption risks has reduced volatility while exposing the underlying technical structure. As prices stabilize above recent lows, longer-term resistance continues to define the limits of recovery. The persistence of this framework keeps market participants focused on whether support levels can hold or ultimately give way.

Razan Hilal, FOREX.com Market Analyst, examines how multi-timeframe technical signals continue to shape crude oil price direction amid shifting macro conditions.

Key Themes

  • The primary downtrend in crude oil remains intact despite intermittent price rebounds.
  • Key Fibonacci retracement levels continue to act as decisive support and resistance zones.
  • Rallies face structural limits unless prices break beyond long-term channel boundaries.

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Why Long-Term Structure Continues to Matter

Monthly charts show that crude oil has remained confined within a downward channel since 2022, limiting the scope of bullish follow-through. Hilal notes that prices have realigned with the “primary downtrend in place since 2022” as geopolitical pressures ease. Even when prices hold above recent lows, resistance zones repeatedly cap upside momentum. This behavior reinforces the market’s sensitivity to structural boundaries rather than short-lived catalysts.

Support Holds but Resistance Defines the Outlook

From a weekly perspective, crude oil has managed to stabilize above key retracement levels near the mid-50s range. However, Hilal cautions that a failure to sustain these levels could expose prices toward “the lower boundary of the respected downtrend channel”. Upside scenarios remain conditional on breaking successive extension targets that sit well above current levels. Until those thresholds are cleared, rallies are likely to remain corrective rather than transformative.

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--- Written by Frédéric Guétin, StoneX TV Producer

--- Expert: Razan Hilal, FOREX.com Market Analyst

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