Notable warming trends from forecasts over the weekend saw natural gas futures extend their recent losses in early trading Monday. After sliding 6.8 cents in Friday’s session, the April Nymex contract was down another 7.1 cents to $2.529/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

The near-term outlook for the natural gas market has turned “strongly bearish,” a shift that can be traced back to Friday afternoon when the April contract broke support at $2.62, according to analysts at EBW Analytics Group.

Prices held their ground for part of the day Friday even as forecasts trended milder and the latest Energy Information Administration storage report showed a smaller-than-expected withdrawal, the firm said.

“Then, just before 12:50 p.m., one or more large funds stepped in and started...