Natural gas futures held onto most of their recent gains in early trading Friday as analysts highlighted tight balances, warm September temperatures and global price trends as drivers of bullish sentiment. The October Nymex contract was down 2.2 cents to $5.009/MMBtu at around 8:55 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday reported a 52 Bcf injection into storage during the week ended Sept. 3, bearish versus surveys that had pointed to a build in the upper 30s or low 40s Bcf.

Total working gas in U.S. storage stood at 2,923 Bcf as of Sept. 3, 16.8% below year-ago levels and 7.4% below the five-year average, according to EIA.

Despite eclipsing expectations the print still came in tight versus historical norms, analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt &...