In the aftermath of last week’s heavy sell-off, natural gas futures were trading lower early Tuesday as forecasts shed cooling demand over the weekend. The August Nymex contract was off 35.5 cents to $5.375/MMBtu as of around 8:45 a.m. ET.

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After a brutal slashing, natural gas bulls licked their wounds and managed to churn out a respectable rebound along the natural gas futures curve to close out last week. The August Nymex futures contract settled Friday at $5.730/MMBtu, up 30.6 cents on the day. September futures climbed 32.0 cents to $5.712.

Cash prices continued to decline, however, amid a soggy forecast for the Independence Day holiday weekend. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. plummeted 77.0 cents to $5.460.

The fireworks show in futures trading was bright throughout...