No news was good news for bulls in the natural gas pit yesterdayas prices bubbled higher late in the session in accordance with thelong-term bull trend. Very little in the way of fresh fundamentalnews was seen to bully prices in either direction and as a resultthe market spent most of the session inside the 10-cent tradingrange etched during the first half hour of trading.

However, the market received a boost late in the day that wasgood enough to promote prices above several key technical levels atthe close. The November finished at $5.439, up 7.5 cents for day.

“If we hold above $5.31, then it is likely the market will tradesideways into the storage report [today],” Cynthia Kase of NewMexico-based Kase and Company said Tuesday morning. “If the markettrades below $5.31, we could see a run down to $5.17.” In thatcase, the bull trend would be in danger and it would take a newrandom event to push the market to new highs, she added.

However, by the time everything was said and done yesterday, theNovember contract was able to settle not only above extensionsupport at $5.31, but also above Elliot Wave support at $5.41. Thelate surge also enabled November to close above trend line support,which yesterday was seen in the $5.43 area. Today, that trend lineis near the $5.50 level.

Technicals will likely take a back seat this afternoon, when theAmerican Gas Association releases its weekly storage report. Thisweek’s announcement, which covers the week ending last Friday, ispossibly the most anticipated of the summer because of the shot ofcold air that much of the North and East received at the beginningof last week. Because of that, expectations for the report haveranged widely from a single digit injection to as much as a 40 Bcfbuild.

Last Tuesday, a spokesman from New York City-based PIRA EnergyGroup made headlines when he boldly predicted that this Wednesday’sstorage report would only show a 7 Bcf injection. Since that time,however, other market estimates have called for a larger storagebuild.

Based on actual heating degree-day accumulations for last week,New York-based IFR Pegasus looks for a 30-40 Bcf refill. And whilethat number would be mildly supportive relative to the 42 Bcfinjection from last year, it may not be enough to avert furtherprice slippage, the group said. Comparatively, the five-yearhistorical average this week is 58 Bcf, according to AGA data.

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