Oil steady around $49.30, focus on this week’s OPEC meeting

WTI crude oil futures managed to recover from session low of $49.05 to currently trade near $49.30 amid dull trading session on the first trading day of a fresh trading week that is full of market moving events.

The black gold initially dipped to a session low of $49.05 as Iraq raised its June crude exports target to 5 million barrels. Additional exports might now shrug-off worries of supply disruptions led by Canadian wildfires and financial crisis in Venezuela.

Moreover, expectations of a near-term US Fed rate-hike decision, which would eventually boost the greenback, might continue to weigh on oil prices and cap any sharp appreciation from current levels.

Meanwhile, traders now turn their attention to this week's meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, where expectations remain low that the group will reach any sort of agreement on an output freeze.

Investors this week will also confront some top-tier economic releases, including the NFP data, and weekly report on crude stockpiles by the API on Tuesday followed by the official EIA report on Wednesday.

Technical levels to watch

On the immediate downside, $48.70-65 zone seems to provide some support. This is followed by strong horizontal support near $47.90-85 area. Weakness below these immediate support levels could get extended towards a strong resistance turned important support near $47.00/barrel mark.

Meanwhile on the upside, $50.00 remains immediate psychological barrier to clear, which if conquered should open doors for test of Oct. 2015 highs resistance near $51.35-40 area before heading towards mid-July 2015 highs resistance around $53.50 region.