Natural gas futures and cash prices slumped Wednesday as easing weather-driven demand expectations cooled a market leaning on late-summer heat to whittle away at a healthy supply cushion.

At A Glance:

  • Weather models cool for late August
  • Storage surplus seen tightening
  • West markets lead cash decreases

Coast-to-coast cash losses saw NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. slide 18.5 cents to $2.595/MMBtu. September Nymex futures, meanwhile, settled at $2.592, off 6.7 cents on the day and marking a second consecutive daily decline.

EBW Analytics Group analyst Eli Rubin in a note to clients Wednesday said the market has been attempting to “rebalance in the wake of last week’s short squeeze-fueled rally.”

A week earlier, the September Henry Hub contract surged 18.2-cent day/day, a...