Overcomes

After tumbling lower during the first hour of trading, natural gas futures rebounded late Friday morning as traders covered shorts in an effort to minimize their exposure should a bullish development — either geopolitical or weather related — emerge over the long holiday weekend. In an abbreviated session cut short at 1 p.m. EST ahead of the Monday holiday, the March contract closed at $5.851, up 11.1 cents on the day, but down 19.2 cents for the week. Futures will reopen Monday at 7 p.m in Access trading with regular open-outcry trading set to resume at 10 a.m. Tuesday.