The futures market continued to move in a choppy,sideways-trading pattern Wednesday, as traders tried to influence amove outside Tuesday’s broad trading range. But the Decembercontract could only muster a 6-cent range yesterday, which producedan inside day on daily charts. Trade selling set in as Decemberreached its $2.435 high and pushed the prompt month down to itseventual $2.395 settlement price.

Not only were trading ranges relatively narrow at NymexWednesday, but estimated volume also was held to a modest 41,225.That gave traders plenty of time to ruminate the magnitude of thelatest AGA storage report. Market expectations for injections werein the 15-45 Bcf range. So it came as a bit of surprise to manywhen the American Gas Association (AGA) said 48 Bcf was injectedlast week. However, a Dallas marketer was unfazed by the number.”It is amazing how much gas [the market] will hide when prices arein the $1.60s,” he quipped.

Despite the sizable storage refill, trading in last night’sAccess session was up 1.8 cents to $2.413. That may be due to themarket’s ability to look past the 3,094 Bcf of storage supply tothe more imminent prospect of cold weather. The National WeatherService calls for below normal temperatures for most of the nationfor Nov. 10-14. Only parts of the southeast and extreme northwestare forecast to receive normal or above normal temperatures.

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