Natural gas futures tested both sides of even in early trading Thursday as the market awaited the latest government inventory report, which was expected to show an injection roughly in line with historical norms.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

The June Nymex contract was trading at $2.205/MMBtu at around 8:40 a.m. ET, up 1.8 cents. July was up 0.8 cents to $2.482.

Nymex futures reached an intraday high of $2.274 Wednesday before prices pulled back, EBW Analytics Group analyst Eli Rubin noted.

After hitting a low of $2.153 early Thursday, futures were “continuing to probe lower this morning in search of support,” Rubin said. “Bulls will look to defend key technical levels near $2.14” ahead of the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) storage report.

Estimates as of early Thursday...