Coming off a stretch of relentless selling, natural gas futures recovered a small portion of their recent losses in early trading Tuesday as updated weather model runs trended modestly cooler. The January Nymex contract was up 10.9 cents to $3.766/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Among the potentially supportive factors for natural gas, EBW Analytics Group in a note to clients early Tuesday highlighted stronger power sector demand as one side effect of the recent precipitous drop in prices.

Falling prices have “begun to spur 0.6 Bcf/d of power sector coal-to-gas switching as Henry Hub prices move materially below $4 — boosting spot market demand and slowing further losses,” EBW senior analyst Eli Rubin said. 

What’s more, updated forecasts for the Dec. 17-23 time frame...