Drops

The cash market largely shrugged off a prior-day drops of 3 cents by futures and some continuing trends toward milder weather in rising at a modest majority of points Wednesday.

Numbers stronger than weekend declines but still mostly softer.

Numbers stronger than weekend declines but still mostly softer.

Mixed price movement returned to the cash market Friday as several points, mostly in the West and Northeast, saw drops ranging from a couple of pennies to a little more than a nickel. But most points continued to record small gains that again depended on a prior-day futures increase and continued to defy modest weather-based load in most areas.

Price drops at nearly all points Wednesday appeared to be at least partial justification for some traders’ belief that the overall firmness on Tuesday was not justified by weak weather fundamentals and the previous day’s futures decline of 12.8 cents.

Aided by prior-day futures weakness, cash points on Thursday continued the week’s trend of back and forth by recording drops across the country. While most regions saw decreases of 20 to 45 cents, some eastern delivery points dropped on Thursday by over 60 cents.

Following four days of mixed price movement, Friday’s cash market emulated the one a week earlier in which all points recorded drops. Cooling load was due to fall during the weekend in some key power generation markets for gas; the screen had provided strongly negative guidance the day before with a 32-cent dive by September futures, and the usual weekend loss of industrial load was another factor in the softness.

Cash market pricing points were down almost across the board on Wednesday as temperatures moderated and demand eased. The biggest drops for a second consecutive day were recorded in the Northeast, despite calls for more snowfall overnight.

While declines continued at most points, the cash market was relatively stronger on Wednesday as the drops were smaller than the ones on Tuesday in nearly every case. The day also recorded a few more points than before showing moderate upticks.