Expiry

Continuing to scratch new lows as it approaches expiry, the September natural gas futures contract in overnight Access trading and the regular session Tuesday carved out lows of $5.25 and $5.26, respectively, the lowest the contract has traded since Feb. 25, when it notched $5.22.

Boosted higher in part due to the record day of its liquid counterpart, August natural gas futures on Wednesday climbed 5.9 cents to expire at $6.048, while September futures jumped 12 cents to close at $6.142.

Shrugging off the urge to cover short positions, natural gas futures traders added to Friday’s sell-off Monday as they pressured the expiring July contract to its lowest level in two weeks. With that the July contract completed its tenure as prompt month in undeniably bearish fashion, slipping 21.2 cents to close at $6.141. At 88,613, estimated volume was light for an expiration-day.

After starting out the session at a new high of $6.76, the June natural gas futures contract, one day before expiry, slid to the $6.55 level in mid-day trading before closing at $6.684, down 2.1 cents on the day.

Pressured by forecasts calling for temperatures to crest the 50-degree mark in the Northeast this weekend, natural gas futures continued lower Tuesday as bulls appeared increasingly content to ignore the expiring March contract in favor of the spring and summer months.

Like a weary traveller who comes home to gracefully pass on, the November contract moved quietly sideways and lower in expiration-day trading Wednesday as traders contemplated a market that had fallen perilously close to new one-year prompt-month lows after having soared during the month of October.

Pressured by the combination of mild weather forecasts and bearish storage news expected Thursday, the natural gas futures market continued its downward spiral Tuesday by recording another gap-lower open and a new five-week low.

Faced with the dilemma of whether to side with bullish longer-term technicals or bearish short-term fundamentals, natural gas traders chose the latter Wednesday as sellers deposited the prompt contract to its lowest point in a week. By finishing the session at $4.927, the September natural gas futures contract lost 11.1 cents on its final trading day, but was up 23.4 cents from the final resting place of the August contract. A year ago the September 2002 contract went off the board at $3.288.

After gapping lower for the second session in a row and reaching a new two-week low, natural gas futures rebounded at the close Wednesday amid a wave of expiration-day short-covering. The June contract initially dipped into the $5.70s early Wednesday, but a short-covering rally ended up boosting the contract to a final settlement of $5.945, up 4.5 cents for the session and 74.5 cents above where June began its tenure as prompt contract a month ago. Comparatively, May 2003 closed 82.2 cents lower at $5.123.