WTI trades with modest losses below $83.00 mark, downside potential seems limited

• WTI attracts some sellers on Thursday amid concerns about slowing global fuel demand. 
• Escalating geopolitical tensions fuels supply concerns and lends support to the commodity.
• September Fed rate cut bets undermine the USD and further help limit losses for Oil prices.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) US crude Oil prices tick lower during the Asian session on Thursday, albeit lack follow-through selling and remain well within the striking distance of the highest level since April 26 touched earlier this week. The commodity, meanwhile, remains confined in a three-day-old trading band and is currently placed just below the $83.00 round-figure mark. 

The US data released on Wednesday pointed to signs of weakness in the labor market and some cooling in the economy. This comes on top of China's economic woes and adds to concerns about a slowdown in global economic growth. This, in turn, is anticipated to dent long-term fuel demand and is seen as a key factor exerting downward pressure on Crude Oil prices. That said, persistent supply risk stemming from the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East should act as a tailwind for the black liquid. 

In fact, tensions between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, so far, have shown little signs of de-escalating. Apart from this, Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries continue to fuel concerns about supply disruptions from the key Oil producing countries. Furthermore, expectations of a peak summer fuel consumption and OPEC+ cuts in the third quarter could lead to a global oil market supply deficit, which, in turn, might hold back traders from placing aggressive bearish bets around the commodity.

Meanwhile, the incoming softer US economic data reaffirms market bets that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will start cutting interest rates in September and lower borrowing costs again in December. This led to the overnight slump in the US Treasury bond yields and dragged the US Dollar (USD) to a three-week low, which could further lend some support to Crude Oil prices. This further warrants caution before positioning for deeper losses ahead of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report on Friday.