Heat Seen Fading in Late August as Natural Gas Futures Retreat Early

Natural gas futures pulled back in early trading Tuesday as forecasts showed cooler temperatures to close out the month, and as analysts pointed to signs of weaker demand for gas in the power sector. The September Nymex contract was down 4.1 cents to $3.905/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

The American Global Forecast System gave back cooling degree day (CDD) gains from Monday in its overnight run, according to NatGasWeather. The cooler trends were focused on next week and for late this month in the “important” Aug. 27-31 timeframe, the firm said.

“Where the overnight data remained hot enough is this weekend and next week as a very warm to hot ridge rules the eastern half of the U.S., while also very warm to hot across the southern U.S. for a return to strong national demand,...