January Nymex natural gas futures staged a modest recovery Wednesday, but attempts at more considerable gains were thwarted by overall mild weather trends that pointed to comparatively small storage withdrawals as production stayed robust.

At A Glance:

  • January futures stage modest recovery
  • Slight cooldown provides some support
  • Fundamentals remain mostly bearish

The January contract settled up 2.4 cents at $2.335/MMBtu, off an earlier high at $2.385. February futures gained 5.2 cents to a finish at $2.292.

NGI’s Spot National Avg. was down 7.0 cents at $2.475. Losses were widespread and supported by outlooks for mild weather to blanket the majority of the country. Only the Southeast and parts of the West saw modest gains. 

Vortex Commodities meteorologist/trader Brian...