Prices failed to fake out anyone Wednesday. With Tuesday’s latesoftness on the Nymex screen carrying over into Wednesday and thesubsidence of “the big bakeoff” in the Northeast, as one producercalled it, it didn’t take a crystal ball to make a bear marketcall. The larger declines on either side of a dime tended tocluster in the Gulf Coast, Appalachian, Northeast, Midcontinent andMidwest markets, while western drops generally were around a nickelor less. Unlike the late screen-related fallbacks reported Tuesday,traders said a number of points saw slight upticks in late dealsWednesday.
NYMEX
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Weather, Technicals Tip Scales in Bulls’ Favor
Activity in the natural gas pit at NYMEX has beenuncharacteristically quiet recently with low volatility and sub-5cent trading ranges the rule rather than the exception. In fact,the only real excitement in the past couple of weeks came Mondaywhen the July contract bounced 3 cents in a late rally. But eventhat was quickly dismissed by many traders who considered itnothing more than a freak, expiration-day anomaly in an otherwisesubdued market. Enter the August contract, which wasted little timeyesterday in moving dramatically higher in a rush of speculativeand commercial buying. The newly crowned prompt month finished up7.6 cents for the session at $2.400.
Bulls, Bears In Market Standoff
After watching the market free-fall 7.1 cents to kick off theweek, bulls dug in their heels Tuesday at Nymex. While they weren’table to recoup much of Monday’s declines, they did prevent anyfurther losses. As a result, the futures market was stagnantyesterday, with the July contract limited to an extremely tight3-cent trading range before settling up 0.1 at $2.238.
Speculative Sell-off Tests Bulls Resolve
Follow-through on the heels of Monday’s Nymex strength gave bulltraders an optimistic outlook early yesterday. However, theireuphoria was short-lived when a combination of fund and localselling pushed the market down near stubborn support at $2.205.June trimmed its losses into the close, finishing 6.6 cents lowerat $2.236.
After Shaky Start, Futures Able to Bubble Higher
After see-sawing 2 cents on either side of unchanged for much ofthe Nymex trading session yesterday, the futures market rumbledhigher late in the day to finish near its high. The June contractfinished up 2.9 cents at $2.302, which places it squarely in themiddle of its recent $2.205-$2.405 trading range. Estimated volumewas a relatively light 32,280.
Futures Ratchet Higher in Technical Trade
Adding to Monday’s gains the natural gas futures continuedhigher at Nymex yesterday as technical buying lifted the Junecontract in active trading. And with that 4.8-cent rally to $2.359,June was able to successfully fill in $2.31-33 daily chart gap andnotch its highest daily close in more than a year.
Nymex Expiration Day: Calm Before Storm
After opening just below Tuesday’s close, the May futurescontract chopped lazily sideways yesterday before eking out a smallgain before the close. In fact, yesterday’s price action was sosubdued it was hard for some traders to believe it was expirationday at the New York Mercantile Exchange. The May contract completedits tenure as prompt month, expiring at $2.348, up 1.7 cents forthe day.
Range-Bound Trading Continues at NYMEX
Not forecasts calling for cooling temperatures, nor record lowsset in the nearby heating oil contract could entice the natural gasfutures market to break out of its month long trading rangeTuesday, as many traders decided instead to play it safe and waitfor a more clearly defined price signal. The March contract drifted1.2 cents lower to settle at $1.795 after being limited to a narrow5-cent trading range.
Storage, Warm Weather Put ‘Spring’ in Bears’ Step
The seesaw battle continued Wednesday in the natural gas pit atNymex, but in contrast to the modest gains posted during tradingMonday and Tuesday, yesterday’s session saw the bears regaincontrol. After opening at what would be its high for the day, theMarch contract drifted 6.3 cents lower to settle at $1.775, just apenny off its low.
March Futures Nearly Break Above Down Trendline
While the March Nymex futures contract began Friday’s tradingsession on yet another up-note, a late sell-off brought it backdown to settle 2.9 cents lower on the day. The spot month went upas high $1.875, where it flirted with crossing over the 40-daymoving average, only to finish the day at $1.80.