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Capping a four-day rally in which prices rose nearly 30%, the natural gas futures market tumbled Friday as producers’ selling mixed with profit-taking from speculative accounts. January finished at $6.135, down 20.2 cents for the day, but still up more than $1.20 for the week. At 83,751, estimated volume was relatively light for the session, evidence that funds had backed off their scorching buying pace of earlier in the week.

Bedminster, New Jersey-based NUI Corp., which is on the auction block, reported a 62-cent loss per share from continuing operations for the quarter compared to a loss of 16 cents/share in the same quarter last year and analysts’ expectations of a 40 cents/share quarterly loss. The company also announced that it is considering cutting its dividend.

Bedminster, New Jersey-based NUI Corp. which is on the auction block, reported a 62-cent loss per share from continuing operations for the quarter compared to a loss of 16 cents/share in the same quarter last year and analysts’ expectations of a 40 cents/share quarterly loss. The company also announced that it is considering cutting its dividend.

While futures slipped a few cents Wednesday, cash prices managed gains of 5-20 cents mainly on the continuing wide gap between current cash and November futures and the cool temperatures and slightly stronger demand in the Midwest and Northeast market areas.

After wildly carving out a 15-cent trading range in the moments following the 10:30 a.m. EDT storage report (featuring a 75 Bcf injection), the natural gas futures market continued to march higher Thursday, proving that rising storage inventories are no match for the one-two combination of concerns over winter and bullish technical factors.

In what may turn out to be the most bullish 2-cent decline in recent memory, natural gas futures clawed their way back from early losses to finish near a high for the session. At $4.642, the October contract ended 1.9 cents lower on the day, but an impressive 9.2 cents above the $4.55 low notched early in the session. At 88,496, estimated volume was heavy and added credence to the rebound.

After suffering though a week’s worth of daily advances, bears finally got their chance Monday as extremely mild weather forecasts turned last week’s buyers of natural gas futures into sellers. When a quick uptick at the opening bell failed to surpass Friday’s $5.295 high, sell orders flooded into the trading pit. It took just an hour for the September contract to drop 25 cents Monday morning, nullifying about two-thirds of last week’s advance. It closed for the session at $5.083, down 19.7 cents on the day.

After etching a 33-cent gain and propelling the market through key resistance Thursday, natural gas bulls cooled their heels Friday in a session that was more about position squaring ahead of the weekend than it was about market direction. At the closing bell the September contract was down 4.5 cents at $5.037. However, by closing above $5.00, the market ratified Thursday’s bull move, potentially setting the stage for more advances this week.

Mirroring earlier quarterly reports of its oil and gas peers, Magnum Hunter saw its income nearly double from a year ago, but actual production numbers were down. While core production grew 7%, the Irving, TX-based independent reported a decline in actual boe production of 8% from 2Q02, which it attributed to non-core property sales in fiscal 2002 and 2003.