With bearish momentum building in the weather outlook overnight, natural gas futures extended their recent losses in early trading Tuesday. Coming off an 18.3-cent decline in the previous session, the April Nymex contract was down another 26.2 cents to $4.571/MMBtu as of around 8:50 a.m. ET.

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April West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, meanwhile, were up sharply, adding $5.59 to trade at $124.99/bbl at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

During the two weeks leading up to Monday’s session, natural gas futures had been “trading in lockstep with crude oil,” EBW Analytics Group senior analyst Eli Rubin observed in a note to clients early Tuesday.

Milder forecast trends, showing projected demand losses after mid-March, “shocked the market into a fundamental reawakening,” Rubin...