New Delhi, Aug. 27 -- Brent is at $87.65 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate at $82.90, recovering modestly from Tuesday's settlement after Wednesday's Personal Consumption Expenditures data printed hotter than expected and failed to push crude any lower. The 3.7 per cent PCE headline took gold down sharply. Oil absorbed it and closed barely changed.

Two sessions have taken more than seven per cent off crude since last Friday's close. A third did nothing. That resistance is not diplomacy or sentiment. It is the physical market holding a floor it recognises.

The event that actually moves this price is not scheduled until Friday, when Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh delivers his first major policy address at the Kansas City Fed's annua...