Closing

The natural gas futures market’s bearish momentum Thursday spilled over into Friday as the September contract recorded a low of $4.456 before closing the regular session at $4.467, down 13.1 cents from Thursday’s close and 45.6 cents lower than the previous week’s finish.

Natural gas futures traders on Wednesday continued to chip away at the downside as the August contract recorded a low of $4.303 before closing the day’s regular session at $4.306, down 4.8 cents from Tuesday’s finish.

Sticking to a fairly tight trading range for a second consecutive session, August natural gas futures on Tuesday traded between $4.334 and $4.487 before closing the day at $4.354, down 3.4 cents from Monday’s close.

While not much was decided on Friday as the August natural gas futures contract trolled lower before closing the regular session nearly unchanged, the damage was done earlier in the week when the prompt-month contract failed to break above $4.900 and instead broke support at $4.500. After reaching a low of $4.339 on Friday, the August contract closed the day at $4.402, up three-tenths of a penny from Thursday’s close but 28.5 cents south of the previous week’s finish.

BP plc shares resumed their slide Monday, closing down nearly 10% at $30.67 on the New York Stock Exchange nearly two months after the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank at the company’s Macondo well site in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

The sideways chop surrounding the $4 price level in natural gas futures trading prevailed on Wednesday as the May contract ping-ponged between $3.933 and $4.044 before closing out the day’s regular session at $3.955, down two pennies from Tuesday’s finish.

The sideways chop surrounding the $4 price level in natural gas futures trading prevailed on Wednesday as the May contract ping-ponged between $3.933 and $4.044 before closing out the day’s regular session at $3.955, down two pennies from Tuesday’s finish.

Following a small rebound in values on Friday, April natural gas futures on Monday resumed the recent downtrend, notching a low of $4.036 before closing out the regular session at $4.079, down 9 cents from Friday’s finish.

Following a small rebound in values on Friday, April natural gas futures on Monday resumed the recent downtrend, notching a low of $4.036 before closing out the regular session at $4.079, down 9 cents from Friday’s finish.