Helped along by some cooler trends in the latest forecasts, natural gas futures continued to strengthen in early trading Wednesday. Coming off a 10.9-cent rally in the previous session, the November Nymex contract was up another 5.0 cents to $2.999/MMBtu at around 8:35 a.m. ET.

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Explanations for Tuesday’s rally were “elusive,” but seasonal buying and regional strength in physical prices may have played a role, according to NatGasWeather.

Futures may have also risen on “expectations the supply/demand balance will tighten in the coming weeks and months,” the firm added.

Weather models added degree days overnight on cooler trends for the northeastern United States, and the data was further “not quite as warm and bearish” for days eight to 15 of the outlook,...