Natural gas futures struggled to find direction Monday, teetering between modest gains and losses as traders weighed robust near-term cooling demand against strong production and stout supplies in storage.

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The August Nymex gas futures contract ultimately settled at $2.685/MMBtu, down 2.8 cents day/day. September lost 1.9 cents to $2.688. The prompt month advanced 7% last week.

Meanwhile, amid searing near-term heat, NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. gained 17.0 cents to $2.810.

Sizzling triple-digit temperatures from California to Texas, coupled with heat and heavy humidity from the Plains to the East Coast, had air conditioners cranking Monday. More of the same was forecast for the rest of the trading week. But both the European and American weather models over the weekend shed...