Oil Halts Gain Near 4-Year High on Concern Rally May Be Overdone - Bloomberg

Oil Halts Gain Near 4-Year High on Concern Rally May Be Overdone - Bloomberg:

Oil halted gains near $76 a barrel on emerging concerns prices have rallied too fast as traders bracing for Iranian supply losses sent crude to a four-year high.

Futures in New York fell as much as 0.6 percent on Thursday. Prices have jumped 4 percent so far this week on concerns over tightening markets, with Iran at the risk of losing another customer, the United Arab Emirates. Traders also shrugged off growing output from Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as a gain in U.S. inventories. Still, the Relative Strength Index topped 70 earlier this week for the first time since late June, signaling to some that the rally may be overdone.

Oil has rallied about 16 percent since mid-August on fears of a global supply crunch, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to repeatedly demand the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to lower prices. While Saudi Arabia and Russia could pump more, traders continue to speculate whether OPEC and allied producers can offset a supply loss in Iran and declining production in Venezuela.