Natural gas futures managed a rebound from the prior day’s massive sell-off, even as the persistently warm December outlook trimmed gains from early in the session. After touching a $3.829/MMBtu intraday high, the January Nymex gas futures contract settled Tuesday at $3.708, up 5.1 cents on the day. February climbed 4.9 cents to $3.674.

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At A Glance:

  • Futures rally early, but fizzle a bit
  • Holidays could see cooler temps
  • New England spot gas soars to $20

Spot gas prices also strengthened on a blast of cold weather heading toward the Northeast, particularly in the pipeline-constrained New England region. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. rose 60.0 cents to $4.560.

After tumbling $1.820 in only six trading days, a recovery of some magnitude was expected. Still, after trending...