Strength

Most cash points rose 1 to 5 cents yesterday on the strength ofa futures rally fired by a bullish American Gas Association storagereport. Traders were in agreement that prices were flat toWednesday until the futures screen picked up in the late morning.

Much like Charismatic, winner of the Preakness and the KentuckyDerby,the futures market was off to the races Monday. Afteropening slightly more than a penny below Friday’s settlement price,the futures market spiked dramatically higher in the first hour oftrading as local buying pushed the market through last week’s$2.315 high. June continued higher yesterday afternoon, finishingup 5.5 cents to $2.343.

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.

International operations enabled UtiliCorp United to post higherearnings during the first quarter despite sharply lower resultsfrom Aquila Energy’ midstream activities. UtiliCorp reportedearnings of $51.9 million, up from $43.3 million a year earlier.Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $.57 in 1999compared to $.53 in 1998.

Feeding off strength from Tuesday’s Access session gains, theMay contract was fast out of the chute Wednesday, quickly notchinga $2.08 shortly before noon. But for the fourth time in the lastfive trading days, resistance at the $2.07-09 level held andprofit-taking in the form of selling became the theme of theafternoon. The May contract finished at $2.024, just 1.1 cents morethan Tuesday’s close.

“It just goes to show you. This gas market doesn’t make muchsense,” a marketer said. Her comment reflected the chagrin of manytraders Thursday when late-January cash prices tended to firm by upto a nickel instead of falling as generally expected. Most sourceshad been sure Wednesday that the anemic storage withdrawal figurereported by AGA (92 Bcf) would lead to cash softness. Sourcesprofessed to have no clue as to what was propping up prices in theface of no fundamental support, although one suggested the strongFebruary futures close might have given cash a psychological boost.

The $2.08-10 level has been a magnet for November futures pricesthis week, and yesterday was no exception when buyer and sellersmatched up just about evenly to produce a $2.095 settle. Sourcessaid strong selling above $2.10 was enough to thwart the earlymomentum produced from follow-through buying carried over from theWednesday evening Access session. Despite the relatively narrow8-cent trading range, estimated volume registered a hefty 62,079.

The July Nymex contract started the week right where it left offlast Friday by probing 2.1 cents higher to settle at $2.191yesterday. After trading higher into the closing bell last Fridaythe market opened lower on Monday, briefly tested short-termsupport, then managed to retrace back up near overhead resistanceat $2.20-21. Estimated volume was a healthy 56,566 contracts.

Cash prices tended to make modest gains Thursday, with most ofthe strength concentrated at Texas points where significant airconditioning load is developing. Houston’s heat index shot up to102 degrees in the afternoon, said a local source. That caused ShipChannel numbers to rise a little over a nickel to the $2.20 area.Waha prices also benefited from the statewide heat and also roseslightly more than a nickel into the low $2.12s. However, late Wahaprices were tailing off slightly, a marketer said. The Texasheat-related upticks carried over into the Permian and San JuanBasins in a domino effect, another trader said.