Coming out of a weekend that brought a notably hotter forecast outlook and an uptick in estimated export demand, natural gas futures were sharply higher in early trading Monday. The September Nymex contract was up 11.2 cents to $1.911/MMBtu at around 8:40 a.m. ET.

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Over the weekend the major weather models, especially the European, trended hotter, showing a return to above-normal temperatures starting next week, according to Bespoke Weather Services.

“This week remains anomalously cool, especially from the Midwest into the mid-South, and we also have rain/wind issues along the East Coast the next couple of days as Isaias moves up the coast,” Bespoke said. However, “by early next week, heat rebuilds from the Plains over to the Midwest and into the Northeast.

“The South...