Crude oil futures have been edging higher over the past few weeks, defying the usual trend of profit-taking ahead of the Christmas holidays. WTI was trading as high as $49.20 on Friday’s session with Brent crude quoted at $52.40, levels they last touched in February before the oil price crash. Naturally, the big question for most traders at this point is whether this rally has the legs to continue into the festive period and even beyond. On a purely technical basis, crude oil has been making higher highs on the weekly charts since April. The latest peak came on Dec. 10 with the next expected around the psychological $50 level on NYMEX futures. The next technical resistance levels are at the mid-February high of $54.50 as well as the 2020 peak of $65.65. The oil and gas benchmark, Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE), has gained 12% over the […]