Down $.70 or -1.27%

The price of crude oil futures fell within $54.56. That was down $.70 or -1.27%.

The low for the day reach $53.29 while the high extended to $55.75. The close was inbetween those two technical levels.

Down $.70 or -1.27%

Looking at the daily chart below, the contract at the lows was testing its 200 hour moving average(green line in the chart above). That moving average currently comes in at $53.52. The price is not able to stay below that level, and that helped to push the price up into the close.

The price moved up last week on the back of recent sanctions on Venezuela, expectations that OPEC cuts would lessen supply, and a fall in US rig counts on Friday (Baker Hughes oil rig count fell by 15 last week). The fall and rise off the 200 hour MA keeps the buyers/bulls more in control.