Downtrend

January natural gas managed a tempered gain Tuesday on stout volume, but traders were not dissuaded that the current downtrend was over and looked for a test in the low $3s. At the close January had risen 2.5 cents to $3.279 and February had gained 2.7 cents to $3.321. January crude gained a hefty $2.37 to $100.14/bbl.

November natural gas continued its march lower Monday as traders pointed to a pervasive technical downtrend, and the weather outlook suggested more mild temperatures across the Midwest. Positive economic figures were not enough to halt the trend. At the close November had fallen 4.9 cents to $3.617 and December had given up 3.4 cents to $3.928. November crude oil dropped $1.59 to $77.61/bbl.

Natural gas futures bears were still very much in the driver’s seat after the November futures contract on Friday recorded the fourth new low for the downtrend, just in the past week. The front-month contract recorded a low of $3.290 before closing the regular session at $3.332, down 3.6 cents from Thursday and 20.3 cents lower than the previous week’s finish.

Front-month natural gas futures plunged to a new low for the downtrend Thursday following news that a whopping 93 Bcf was injected into underground storage for the week ending Oct. 15. The late-season build nearly doubled the five-year average injection for the week and more than quadrupled the addition recorded for the similar week last year.

After recording its third consecutive low for the downtrend in as many days, natural gas futures staged a meager rebound on Tuesday as the November contract reached a high of $3.530 before closing the regular session at $3.513, up 8.2 cents from Monday.

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.

A modestly bullish Energy Information Administration (EIA) inventory report Thursday thwarted the pervasive downtrend in gas futures prices for the time being, but August natural gas futures managed only a modest 1.8 cent gain to settle at $5.943 in active trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Every downtrend needs a good short-covering bounce now and again and that is exactly what it looks like February natural gas did on Friday, although it was a small bounce. After opening 32.1 cents higher Friday morning at $9.820, which also happened to be the contract’s high for the day, the prompt month traded in an area between $9.580 and $9.760 before settling at $9.632, up 13.3 cents on the day but $1.593 lower than the previous week’s close.