Despite a dearth of fundamental support, the cash market sawmostly minor gains Wednesday. The firmness came as a surprise tomany who couldn’t understand where the demand was coming from. Aminuscule gain in Henry Hub futures didn’t give cash much impetusat all, one trader said.

Opinions on the AGA storage withdrawal report of 203 Bcf tendedto range from neutral to slightly bullish. Noting that Accessfutures trading had risen 3 cents following issuance of the report,an aggregator said the figure was “bigger than we thought it wouldbe” and he expects some upward movement today in cash as a result.But another source considered the report in line with mostexpectations and said the lack of near-term cold weather shouldbecome a drag on cash.

A clue as to why the current market seems especially quiet camefrom several traders who indicated Wednesday they may be throughwith day trading for the rest of January. A couple said they werepretty well balanced in all their markets, while others reportedsignificantly diminished activity for similar reasons. A Texasproducer noted that pipeline paybacks “will use up just about allour swing gas until next month.”

A marketer looking ahead to February expects that market to besimilar to January’s, with overall prices again coming in under $2.Any chance at firmer numbers will happen only if “some majorweather develops,” he and other traders agreed.

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