Natural gas futures probed higher early Monday, with bulls seizing upon favorable near-term weather, steady export demand and market expectations for a seasonally robust inventory withdrawal. But intensifying stress in the global financial system ultimately curbed the momentum and left futures in the red as markets closed.

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The April Nymex gas futures contract settled at $2.223/MMBtu, down 11.5 cents day/day. May also fell 11.5 cents to close at $2.331.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. slipped 2.0 cents to $2.530 ahead of a break from cold weather.

Monday futures trading extended losses from Friday. The prompt month lost 4% last week.

NatGasWeather said American and European weather models heading into Monday trading agreed on the timing of swings in national demand the next...