Natural gas futures pared their recent gains in early trading Wednesday as the market continued to mull the impact on balances of a chilly late April weather pattern.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

After rallying the past three sessions, including a 9.1-cent gain on Tuesday, the April Nymex contract was down 9.0 cents to $2.276/MMBtu at around 8:40 a.m. ET.

From a technical standpoint, Tuesday’s 9.1-cent rally marked further progress for bulls, but they have more work to do, according to ICAP Technical Analysis analyst Brian LaRose.

“Still peg the 50-day moving averages as the immediate challenge,” LaRose said. These moving averages “are presently converging with the upper bollinger bands. Run into resistance and Henry Hub has the potential to be violently repelled.

“Bust through these moving...