• Oil prices edge higher for the third straight day on Friday. 
• Traders see both bearish and bullish elements in the mix, which could see Oil prices close off this week flat. 
• The US Dollar Index trades above 104.00 after its steep decline on Thursday. 

Oil prices are being torn in half, with several bearish and bullish elements in the balance. Although Oil started the week on the back foot, it is possibly on track to minimize the incurred losses for this week and might even be flat overall by Friday’s close. The question will be how much front running will take place this summer ahead of the initial interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) expected in September and assumptions that demand will boom on the back of that. 

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the performance of the US Dollar against six major currencies, is building on its road to recovery after the meltdown it went through on Thursday after US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for June showed a pickup in disinflation. Markets scrambled to lock in an interest rate cut for September, which means the value of the US Dollar had to be adjusted because of the rate differential with other currencies getting narrower. On Friday, traders will be looking if the producer side of the economic system is seeing disinflation picking up as well with June’s Producer Price Index (PPI) release. 

At the time of writing, Crude Oil (WTI) trades at $82.34 and Brent Crude at $85.54