Quiet

For about an hour yesterday it appeared as if the futures marketwas ready to break out of its recent rut. Feeding on emotiongathered in Monday’s active session, the April contract quicklymapped out a 7-cent trading range in only the first hour oftrading. But, that would be about all the market could handle andthe prompt month spent the rest of the session drifting aimlesslywithin that range. April finished down 0.5 cents to $1.696.

A tight range and relatively quiet trading returned to thenatural gas futures pit on Monday following last Friday’s failedrally that briefly touched overhead resistance. And althoughyesterday’s highs did not approach the $1.875 notched last week,some traders felt the move was constructive for prices. Theprompt-March contract was limited to a 1.8-cent gain to finish at$1.818 for the day.

For the second day in row Wednesday, natural gas futures werelimited to small gains amid a quiet trading session. The Februarycontract finished up a penny at $1.827 in the regular tradingsession.

The futures market was pressured lower Tuesday as sellers sentthe February contract tumbling back down to support clustered inthe $1.73-74 area. But once again the move failed to produce a newcontract low, which set off a short-covering rally that bid theprompt month higher just prior to the close. February settled at$1.817, a fraction of a penny off its high for the day and 2.1cents higher than last week’s closing price.

Light short-covering buoyed the futures market at the openFriday, as traders exited positions ahead of the holiday weekend.However, sellers above the $1.80 level were waiting and pushed theprompt month to a lower close. The February contract slipped 1.3cents lower to close at $1.796 in Friday’s abbreviated tradingsession. The New York Mercantile Exchange will be closed Monday inobservance of Martin Luther King Day

The futures market was perched at a precarious position cominginto trading Monday. Last week’s precipitous decline had positionedthe spot February contract near its all-time low of $1.77, leavingsome traders to suggest that Monday’s price action could dictatethe course of trading for the rest of the week. A move below $1.77could open the door for fresh selling, while a rebound above $1.77might prompt short covering. And although Monday’s move below the$1.77 level did not entice the cascade of selling some expected, itdid signify that the bears are not finished yet. February endeddown 5.1 cents to $1.779 after trading to a $1.74 low.

Following Monday’s dramatic price rout, Tuesday’s tradingexhibited a more sedate demeanor, leaving the December contract totrade within a narrow 6.5-cent range. And while the late-afternoonsell-off had bulls running for cover Monday, consolidation of thoselosses gave them a ray of hope before the close yesterday. Thatrebound was enough to lift the prompt month 3.6-cents to $2.478.

The futures market was able to sustain another day of weakercash prices Friday to trade on either side of unchanged on the day.A late rally on weak volume after many traders in New York andHouston had called it a week was the market’s only excitement forthe day and provided the November contract with a 1.4-cent boostgoing into the weekend to settle at $2.109.

The November contract debuted as the prompt month yesterday byposting modest gains during a quiet trading session that saw nofresh news. November opened lower and quickly tested Monday’s $2.27low, but light commercial buying helped drive the market up 4.5cents to settle at 2.347 for the day. Estimated volume was a modest33,428.