As updated forecasts showed cold building for the eastern Lower 48 into the last week of November, natural gas futures advanced in early trading Wednesday.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Coming off an up-and-down start to the week, the December Nymex contract was up 7.1 cents to $3.177/MMBtu at around 8:41 a.m. ET.

Tuesday’s trading saw the front month finish 9.1 cents lower on the day and well off the session high of $3.264.

While a rally to open the week “ran out of steam” on Tuesday, a “continued expansion” of anticipated weather-driven demand for the Nov. 24-30 storage period could “solidify near-term support” for prices, according to EBW Analytics Group analyst Eli Rubin.

“It appears that the market has still not fully priced in the sizable cold air masses likely to drive demand...