Direction

Cash prices were mixed Tuesday in every region of the country as mild weather remained the trend. Market direction was mainly down again in the Rockies, where some points, including Northwest Pipeline and CIG, continued to collapse because of weak demand, full storage and transportation constraints. In contrast, most points in the Midcontinent/Midwest posted increases of 1-30 cents.

October natural gas futures traders couldn’t make up their minds on price direction Monday as some pinned last week’s landslide-like decline to news of significant losses at a sizeable hedge fund. After trading within a range from $4.880 to $5.140, the prompt month ended up closing at $4.942 on Monday, down 4 pennies on the day.

Taking back some of the market’s 46.6-cent gain from Monday, prompt-month natural gas futures went in the opposite direction on Tuesday, despite the oppressive heat that still gripped a number of large natural gas consuming regions. The August contract, which expires Thursday, put in a low of $6.350 before settling at $6.409, down 19.6 cents on the day.

Despite trading within a slim 14-cent range on Monday, the day’s market direction was already labeled as ‘lower’ following a 34.5-cent decline in Sunday’s overnight Access trade session. After opening at $6.840 Monday, July natural gas put in a low of $6.790 and a high of $6.930 before closing at $6.893, down 29.2 cents from Friday’s close.

With the natural gas futures arena awaiting fundamental news to push it in one direction or the other, a just released WSI Corp. temperature forecast could have bulls bellying up to the bar in the near-term. According to the Andover, MA-based weather forecasting and business solution provider, the May-July period should average above normal temperatures for a majority of the U.S., except for the East.

With the natural gas futures arena awaiting fundamental news to push it in one direction or the other, a just released WSI Corp. temperature forecast could have bulls bellying up to the bar in the near-term. According to the Andover, MA-based weather forecasting and business solution provider, the May-July period should average above normal temperatures for a majority of the U.S., except for the East.

June natural gas futures on Tuesday wavered on price direction in early trading, but finally resolved to trade somewhat higher. After notching a low of $6.600 just after 11 a.m. EDT, the prompt month inched upward in the afternoon to record a high of $6.870 before closing at $6.746, up 5.1 cents on the day.

Through Thursday of last week there were at least a few exceptions to general price movement, but on Friday all points were united in one direction: down by double-digit amounts.

The cash market clung to flat to slightly higher numbers at a few points Tuesday, but the predominant direction of price movement was downward. Although the weather picture continued to look fairly wintry through Wednesday and beyond for the Northeast, Midwest, Plains and to a lesser degree the upper West, storage use appeared to be offsetting demand for new production to a large degree.