Natural gas futures pulled back in early trading Tuesday as a more supportive fundamental outlook, including chillier March temperatures, proved insufficient to extend the recent rally. 

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

The April Nymex contract was down 8.6 cents to $2.645/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

The April contract rallied 18.3 cents in Monday’s session as “fundamental support and bullish technicals” aligned to push prices higher, according to EBW Analytics Group analyst Eli Rubin.

“Although a retest of support is possible, upward momentum is expected to continue over the next seven to 10 days,” Rubin said. “$3 gas should not be ruled out.”

In terms of fundamental support for prices, the year-on-five-year-average storage surplus, after expanding winter to date, could begin to shrink in...