Coming off a sharp decline in the previous session, natural gas futures retreated further in early trading Wednesday as analysts pointed to technical factors, more so than fundamentals, to explain recent price action. The July Nymex contract was off 4.6 cents to $3.194/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

The July contract fell 11.2 cents the previous session, a slide that occurred despite what analysts at EBW Analytics Group viewed as a lack of any major change in the fundamentals outlook.

The front month initially tried to move higher in Tuesday’s session, but eventually “the roof caved in, with large funds driving prices down sharply on heavy volumes,” the EBW analysts said. “Notably, the up and down swings occurred even though near-term supply/demand fundamentals were...