Dampens

In a topsy-turvy session that made traders glad the weekend wasnear, natural gas futures spiked and retraced three times Fridayamid a bevy of fundamental and technical news. After encounteringsubstantial selling in the low $6.80s early in the day, the Januarycontract checked sideways for much of the session, finishing up 8.4cents at $6.673. Comparatively the rest of the 12-month strip, ledby March, which erupted 20.7 cents to close at $6.043, experienceddouble-digit gains.