Natural gas futures retreated in early trading Tuesday as updated forecasts showed cooling demand weakening over the eastern Lower 48 toward mid-August. The September Nymex contract was off 32.6 cents to $7.957/MMBtu as of around 8:45 a.m. ET.

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The front month was also on track for losses in the day-earlier period before a midday rebound saw prices ultimately settle higher.

The September contract dipped as low as $7.753 in Monday’s session “only to trigger support and recover the entirety of losses,” EBW Analytics Group senior analyst Eli Rubin observed.

“Phantom first-of-month production losses suggest a 2.5 Bcf/d supply ‘loss’ helped spark the rebound — but supply estimates are likely to be revised higher in coming days,” Rubin said. 

Prices were “fading...