Nymex January natural gas futures settled Tuesday up 1.6 cents at $2.710/MMBtu in a day of profit-taking following the prior day’s 12.0-cent rout on the back of weak fundamental support.

At A Glance:

  • Profit-taking drives early gains
  • Weather forecasts “less bearish”
  • Chill, pipeline constraints support cash

The front-month contract drifted to a $2.675 intraday low. Still, it held positive territory for most of the regular trading session, posting an intraday high of $2.786, but reversed some gains into the settlement. February futures matched January’s Tuesday momentum by also adding 1.6 cents to a settlement of $2.667.

Meanwhile, natural gas cash markets were mostly higher with support from lingering cold weather and pipeline maintenance. NGI’s National Spot Price...