Firmer

Given a little boost from the modestly firmer expiration of October futures and an almost imperceptible return of higher temperatures in the South, the September daily market ended Wednesday with a near-repeat of Tuesday’s trading — prices nearly all within a narrow range around unchanged.

The market was marginally firmer Wednesday as a significantly greater number of points were seeing small increases than a day before. The rationale for the modest rise in bullishness was elusive, as cooling demand was receding to some extent in the Midcontinent and parts of the South while mostly moderate conditions still dominated the rest of the weather picture. Also, Tuesday’s flat July futures provided no support for cash numbers Wednesday.

A majority of the cash market was firmer again Wednesday despite still having little in the way of weather-based demand, but at least this time it could claim the support of a 21.7-cent advance by November futures the day before. Tuesday’s mostly higher numbers had defied a weaker prior-day screen.

Prices rose at all points Thursday. But while quotes were firmer at most or all points Monday or Tuesday in spite of generally light weather-based load, this time they could count on some heating or cooling load in a few areas to go along with prior-day futures support. One source also cited storage buying as a market booster.

Wednesday’s price movement was mixed but biased to the downside. Continued substantive heating load kept most points firmer in the Gulf Coast and Northeast, but a string of futures losses coupled with already generally mild weather in the West and the approach of warmer conditions in the Midcontinent/Midwest had numbers mostly falling in those regions.

Cash numbers were firmer again Wednesday in most cases, but several points that were flat to nearly 35 cents lower continued to keep the market from uniting in consistent price movement. Some prior-day screen support and the persistence of Gulf Coast supply shortfalls were considered the key reasons behind gains ranging from about a nickel to a dollar.

The market was mostly firmer again Tuesday, but the amounts of gain tended to vary widely. Supply and transportation constraints in the Rockies, along with the continuing impact of massive Gulf Coast shut-ins and some instances of heating load in the Upper Plains and West combined with new cooling load in the Midcontinent, were cited as factors in the new upticks. One source suggested that Monday’s screen gain of nearly a dime provided a little extra support for cash Tuesday.

The cash market closed out a surprisingly firm week in the face of weak fundamentals with mostly small gains at a majority of points Friday. Scattered instances of flat to mildly lower numbers were thrown into the mix; CenterPoint West stood out with a loss of nearly 15 cents. Upticks tended to be limited to single digits, although more than half a dozen points rose a dime or slightly more.

The cash market broke out of a lengthy pattern of volatile price movement for the most part Wednesday. Except for plunges of 60 cents to nearly two dollars in the Northeast, the rest of the market tended to range from slightly softer to 20 cents higher. A majority of the gains were less than a dime.