In a continuation of recent outsized volatility, natural gas futures surged higher in early trading Wednesday as analysts pointed to strong heat in the southern Lower 48 as a possible bullish catalyst. The June Nymex contract was up 23.9 cents to $7.624/MMBtu at around 8:45 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Recent price moves have been particularly “head-spinning,” according to Bespoke Weather Services.

“After a violent move lower yesterday, all the way to under the $6.50 level, we rallied a full dollar the rest of the day, and are a little higher again this morning,” Bespoke said. “…The wild thing is, through all these moves the last few days, the underlying data has not changed all that much…We simply must get used to even stronger volatility as we move forward, with little reason to think...