Unsure

Coming off last week’s $1.673 drop in August natural gas futures, traders on Monday proved unsure of their next move as both the upside and downside of the front-month position was probed during the regular session. The prompt-month contract bounced between $11.845 and $12.137 before coming to a close at $11.959, up 5.5 cents over Friday’s finish.

A little unsure of its footing following Monday’s 30-cent-plus rise, June natural gas futures explored higher and lower levels on Tuesday before settling nearly unchanged at $6.258, down 1.8 cents on the day.

Trading within a slim 18-cent range Wednesday, April natural gas futures looked unsure of their direction, calling into question recent talk that last week’s $6.450 low represented a bottom for the move. The prompt month was unable to build on the week’s earlier significant gains while also failing to break back below the psychological $7 level. April natural gas closed at $7.143, down 2.4 cents.

Unsure of Emily’s direction on Wednesday, traders pushed August natural gas futures lower at the opening bell before allowing another run back into $8.00 territory in the afternoon. Ultimately the contract ended up settling at $7.900, up 1.5 cents from Tuesday’s close.

After starting out Monday below Friday’s low, May natural gas futures zigzagged during the session between $7.17 and $7.32, unsure of their next move. However, the prompt month did settle 6.7 cents higher at $7.309, just shy of the day’s high.

May natural gas futures on Wednesday continued to consolidate as market watchers were still unsure of the contract’s next move. After seesawing a bit, the prompt month ended up settling at $7.558, down 1.4 cents on the session.

Following up on the merger announcement made earlier this year between Calgary-based PanCanadian Energy Corp. and its neighbor Alberta Energy Co. (AEC), analyst groups have been divided on expectations for the merger’s future following reports of decreased earnings and production declines from both companies for the fourth quarter 2001.