Sessions

After trading mostly sideways for the past 11 sessions in a range from $6.875 to $6.31, May natural gas — with help from the petroleum futures complex — broke more than 40 cents lower in two separate waves of trading on expiration day Wednesday before going off the board at $6.748, a whopping 37.2 cents below Tuesday’s settle.

After teeter-tottering above and below the $7 mark for the past two sessions, May natural gas futures on Friday once again broke beneath the psychological level to settle at $6.997, down 7.2 cents on the day and 24.5 cents lower for the week.

In abbreviated mark-up sessions the first week of April, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed two “feel good” amendments to increase spending for a federal energy assistance program by 50% effective 2006 and extend Daylight Saving Time by a month at either end. The mark-up was cut short to allow key lawmakers to attend the Pope’s funeral; it will resume on April 12 at 2 p.m.

After settling below $6 on two consecutive sessions prior to the long holiday weekend, March natural gas futures on Tuesday spent the first half of the day getting back to $6 and the second half exploring higher, settling at $6.103, up 19.5 cents. The April natural gas contract trumped that, closing 23.4 cents higher at $6.221.

In what was one of the quietest sessions in recent memory, the natural gas futures market chopped mostly sideways Tuesday as neither bull nor bear was able to influence a move in their favor. The March contract closed at $6.316, down a half cent for the session and near the middle of its $6.26-40 trading range on the day.

With the natural gas futures market resembling a game of limbo over the past few sessions, some market watchers are now asking “How low can you go.” Continuing the sloping trend from last week, December natural gas futures shed another 35.4 cents to settle at $7.60.

With the natural gas futures market resembling a game of limbo over the past few sessions, some market watchers are now asking “How low can you go.” Continuing the sloping trend from last week, December natural gas futures shed another 35.4 cents to settle at $7.60.

Ending the streak of losing sessions at two, natural gas futures held on to an early advance Wednesday as light short-covering buoyed the market on expiration day. The February contract completed its tenure as Nymex prompt month at $5.775, up 5.9 cents for the session, but down 46.8 cents since its debut as the spot contract a month ago.

After tumbling $3.42 from their $8.50 high on Feb. 28 with only one up-day, April futures finally found a bottom at $5.08 and bounced higher. The contract appeared to be headed for another large drop on Friday morning, opening the day with a sharp move to the downside. But at about 10:40 a.m. buying suddenly kicked in on oversold conditions and by the end of the day, April was up 6.9 cents at $5.430, not far from its daily high of $5.480.