Generally

Colder weekend trends in sections of the South and Midwest failed to inspire enough heating load to counter the bearish influences of generally moderate weather as winter enters its final week, the prior-decline of 11.9 cents by April futures and the dropoff of industrial demand during a weekend. As a result, prices fell at all but one point Friday.

Prices were up by generally small amounts at most points Monday as seasonal winter weather was returning to most of the East. The previous Friday’s surge of 20.4 cents by futures and the return of industrial load from its usual weekend hiatus also helped to boost the cash market.

Prices were up by generally small amounts at most points Monday as seasonal winter weather was returning to most of the East. The previous Friday’s surge of 20.4 cents by futures and the return of industrial load from its usual weekend hiatus also helped to boost the cash market.

After generally leveling off Wednesday, the market recorded small gains at a large majority of points Thursday. Forecasts indicated that chillier conditions would be returning in some areas by the end of the weekend, although nothing like a revisitation of the frigid cold snap that dominated late December and the first half of January was expected.

Near-flat pricing prevailed Wednesday as generally moderate weather continued to dominate the outlook but some below-freezing lows remained in the northern forecasts. Slightly softer numbers were again in the majority, but losses were much smaller than a day earlier and nearly balanced by flat to higher quotes.

Prices rebounded by generally small amounts at most points Tuesday following across-the-board declines a day earlier. Considering Monday’s futures plunge of 27.4 cents, the rally was rather surprising in light of a warm-up into the 70s forecast for the South along with relatively light cooling trends in parts of the Northeast and mixed temperature movement due in the Midwest.

After a string of nearly all gains previously in the week, cash prices finally succumbed Friday to generally moderate weather-based demand and the previous day’s futures dip of 15.3 cents. Quotes were down at all points but one. The weekend decline of industrial load added to the general bearishness.

Prices continued to fall at a majority of points Thursday, but declines were generally small at less than a dime. There were signs of new, albeit slight, firmness as several more locations were flat to 2-3 cents higher than on the day before.

Although the pace of Atlantic tropical activity hastened rapidly over the weekend, the lack of menace to offshore production combined with generally moderate cooling load and the previous Friday’s 9.8-cent decline by September futures to produce losses at a modest majority of cash points Monday. However, price movement was mixed, with most gains concentrated in the Northeast, where above-normal highs in the low 90s remained in the forecast for Tuesday.