Cent

With cooling load sinking rapidly, especially in the South, prices fell at nearly all points Wednesday. The previous day’s 2.9-cent decline by September futures as they entered their three-day countdown to expiration also contributed to cash softness.

After trading in a narrow 10-cent range during Monday’s regular session, August natural gas futures closed the quiet day at $4.388, down 1.4 cents from last Friday’s finish. However, the serenity might not last as some market watchers see indications that the funds might be mobilizing to sell.

Sticking to the recent script of back-and-forth moves in natural gas futures, the August contract followed up Thursday’s 23.8-cent increase with a drop of 16.7 cents to close Friday’s regular session at $4.687.

Near-flat pricing continued to set the pace for the cash market for the third day in a row Friday. The previous day’s 18.4-cent increase by July futures following a mildly bullish storage build report, along with warm to hot weather forecasts in several areas, failed to have much supportive effect on prices.

Nearly all of the cash market again saw substantive upticks Tuesday, drawing support from a 22.5-cent spike by July futures a day earlier and a fairly large amount of cooling demand from hot weather across most of the southern half of the U.S. Although chances of storm development were being discounted, some traders may have considered a low-pressure area in the Atlantic Ocean as an additional bullish factor.

Backed by bullish news and Thursday’s 26.6-cent gain, July natural gas futures on Friday reached a high of $4.977 before backing down a tad on profit-taking ahead of the weekend to close at $4.797, up 10.7 cents from Thursday’s close and 45.6 cents higher than the previous week’s finish.

Prices continued to ignore mostly moderate weather in registering small gains at most points Thursday. The previous day’s 5.5-cent increase by expiring May futures played a role in the general cash firmness, as did temperatures reaching the low to mid 80s in much of the South.

A 5.4-cent rise in May futures on the previous Friday was abetted by moderately chillier weather that developed over the weekend and the return of industrial demand from its typical weekend hiatus in causing prices to range from flat to about a dime higher at nearly all points Monday.

A 5.4-cent rise in May futures on the previous Friday was abetted by moderately chillier weather that developed over the weekend and the return of industrial demand from its typical weekend hiatus in causing prices to range from flat to about a dime higher at nearly all points Monday.