A modest nudge from the futures screen and a warming trend inmajor market areas that had been unseasonably cool in recent dayswere enough to generate an overall upturn in cash prices Tuesday.The increases ranged from negligible to just over a dime in somecases.
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Articles from futures
Short-Covering Boosts August Ahead of Weekend
The futures market rebounded Friday, recapturing some of thelosses registered earlier in the week as light position squaringearly in the day gave way to moderated short-covering ahead of theweekend. That left the August contract above the critical $2.00level, closing up 8.3 cents at $2.031.
Cash Market Takes Pit Stop on Down-Hill Track
Cash prices took a cue from the futures screen Thursday andpulled out of their headlong dive that has dominated the marketsince Monday. But sources considered the general leveling off ofprices, which leaned slightly to the softer side, as onlytemporary. Noting that Northern market areas already have startedcooling off from their recent temperature heights and that thecooling trend is expected to spread further this weekend, manytraders expect the general downturn to resume today.
Storage Refill Sends Futures Lower
After taking Tuesday’s small gain in stride, the bears were atit again yesterday pushing the August contract to test the bottomof a descending channel that has limited movement in the contractsince July 1. However, support held and light buying ensued pushingthe contract up to close at $2.231, down 3.5 cents for the day.
August Futures Face Major Bearish Hurdle
The August Nymex contract may have taken a significant steptoward posting further losses on Friday, but the jury on that isstill out. After August fell below major support at $2.32 Friday,enough buyers stepped in to prevent the spot month from moving anylower than $2.30. That enabled August to settle the day down 4.0cents to $2.309, but more selling could be in store when tradingresumes today. “I think a lot of traders took off early Fridayafternoon, or were simply not interested in putting in fresh openpositions before the weekend,” an analyst commented.
Merc Traders Celebrate 2nd of July With Little Fanfare
The August natural gas futures contract slipped 1.1 cents to$2.439 Thursday, as traders scrambled to finish their businessahead of the long fourth-of-July weekend. “Today was pretty muchjust position covering ahead of the weekend,” a broker told GPI. “Idon’t think anyone was too concerned with, or had the goal of,moving August outside of its trading range,” he said. For thatreason, he was not surprised to see technical support at $2.38hold.
Futures Traders Expect A Weak Volume Week
The August Nymex contract fell 3.4 cents to $2.389 on Monday,amid a day when an extremely light 22,000 estimated total contractschanged hands. “We went from 123,000 contracts on Friday to almostnothing today. There just ain’t nothing going on,” a traderlamented. The fourth-of-July is typically among the lowest demandperiods of the year, and because the holiday falls so close to thefirst of the month, many cash market traders termed up incrementalgas through July 7th during bidweek, several sources reported. As aresult, the Merc pit lacked solid participation from commercials,and a broker expects that to continue throughout the week.
July Futures Expire With Little Price Change
The July Nymex contract went off the board in wild fashionFriday, as the spot month reached a high of $2.45 before plummetingto a low of $2.33 just before the closing bell. Despite thevolatility, July’s final $2.358 settlement price left the contractdown just 0.6 cents for the day.
Midwest Prices Fall Despite Record Power Loads
The futures screen may have been active Thursday but it waspretty quiet in the incremental cash market, a Houston trader said.Most points were flat to a bit softer, with the biggest drops ofabout a nickel or more occurring in the markets that had alreadybeen weak in the previous couple of days: the Rockies andCalifornia. Northeast citygates in Transco’s Zone 6 managed to ekeout small gains.
July Futures Post Slight Gain, Prepare to Expire
The July Nymex contract gained 2.8 cents to settle Monday at$2.364, thanks in large measure to momentum the contract gainedafter it filled in the technical chart gap with its early move downto $2.295. However, the upside was capped by resistance at $2.43,and July settled right in the middle of its technical tradingrange. “July trading is pretty much in cruise control now,” asource said. “A lot of people have already gotten out of theirpositions, so I think you’ll see the rangebound trading continue[today]. However, that range is 15 cents, so trading will mostlikely be volatile, which will be the first time in months acontract has expired with a good dose of volatility,” he told GPI.