Sideways

May options expiration on Tuesday saw the prompt-month natural gas futures contract continue its recent stretch of sideways trading as May futures bounced between $4.191 and $4.293 before closing out the day’s regular session at $4.216, down 4.6 cents from Monday’s finish. The contract expires Wednesday.

The sideways chop surrounding the $4 price level in natural gas futures trading prevailed on Wednesday as the May contract ping-ponged between $3.933 and $4.044 before closing out the day’s regular session at $3.955, down two pennies from Tuesday’s finish.

The sideways chop surrounding the $4 price level in natural gas futures trading prevailed on Wednesday as the May contract ping-ponged between $3.933 and $4.044 before closing out the day’s regular session at $3.955, down two pennies from Tuesday’s finish.

Caught between longer-term bearish fundamental market conditions and shorter-term bullish technical factors, the natural gas futures market chopped sideways to higher in relatively light trading activity Tuesday. And while neither side could claim the day as a victory, the market finished on a positive note, with the June contract ekeing out a 3-cent advance to close at $6.476.

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 beginning Friday’s session on a sideways-to-slightly-lower path, April natural gas futures started to tilt upwards ever so slightly beginning at 11 a.m. EST. After peaking at $7.31 in afternoon trading, the prompt month went on to settle at $7.273, up 3.5 cents on the session and a whopping 50.1 cents over the previous Friday’s close.

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.

After checking sideways for much of the morning trading session, the natural gas futures market turned lower Tuesday afternoon as traders took profits on warmer weather forecasts and uncertainty surrounding this week’s release of inventory data.

After checking both above and below last Friday’s trading range, the natural gas futures market snapped back to unchanged late in the session Monday as neither bull nor bear could muster enough support for their price moves. The March contract finished at $5.349, down 0.5 cents for the session and in the bottom half of its 24-cent daily trading range. By comparison, the out months continued to buck the trend with several summer 2004 months posting 5- and 6-cent gains for the day.