Brent stalls above $87 again

The continued failure of January Brent to make a lasting push above $87 per barrel was a theme repeated on three days last week. The failure on Friday came from a higher interim hight too. Brent had risen to $87.80 ahead of the US opening. The fall that followed saw it slide to $84.56 ahead of the NYMEX settlement. Indeed January Brent settled there, $1.96 lower, at $84.89. The continued failure to hold gains does look like now risking a deeper relapse, below the lows seen ahead of October 7. January Brent fell to as low as $82.20 on October 6. So, in essence the price action is clearly risking an unwind of the move from that low to $92.32, reached on October 20. On the other hand there are still upside risks and potential for a spike, if the conflict in Gaza spreads across the region. January Brent is just now trading at $85.40