Natural gas futures held onto the extensive gains they accumulated at the start of the holiday week, slipping only a few pennies on additional warming in the forecast. The January Nymex contract settled Tuesday at $4.055/MMBtu, off only a half-cent from Monday’s close. The February contract slipped 5.7 cents to $3.885.

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At A Glance:

  • Weather models shed demand
  • Global gas prices fizzle
  • Chilly temperatures boost Rockies cash

Spot gas prices gathered momentum in every U.S. region except the East Coast. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. climbed 9.5 cents to $4.125.

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a notoriously volatile period for Nymex futures, with big swings and thin volumes seen as the year draws to a close. On Tuesday, only about 31,000 prompt-month contracts...