CME Group’s preliminary readings for crude oil futures markets noted traders added around 14.2K contracts to their open interest positions at the beginning of the week, extending at the same time the ongoing uptrend. On the other hand, volume went down for the second session in a row, this time by more than 85K contracts.

WTI looks to return to $80.00

Crude oil started the week on the back footing and came under pressure following recent highs past the $80.00 mark per barrel. Monday’s downtick was on the back of rising open interest, which is indicative that further decline could be in the pipeline. That said, the next contention in WTI is expected to emerge at the YTD low at $74.30 (January 3).