Virtually all points fell Thursday as they succumbed to a triple whammy of bearish threats: further increases in storage inventories, futures weakness and mild weather for mid-winter that refuses to go away and allow normal cold conditions to take hold.
Weakness
Articles from Weakness
More Fund Selling Still In the Mix; October Weakens
October natural gas retreated Tuesday as not all traders are on board with historical seasonal weakness leading to higher prices and the funds and managed accounts being unwilling to push the market lower from present price levels. October lost 3.1 cents to $3.798 and November shed 4.7 cents to $3.885. October crude oil rose $1.19 to $86.89/bbl.
Mild Temperatures, Screen, Irene Push All Points Lower
Not surprisingly, the modest rally of the previous two days came to an end Thursday as generally moderate weather, prior-day futures weakness and a demand-killing hurricane ganged up to cause spot prices to decline across the board.
Don Fizzles, But Rising Heat Rallies Most Points
The market rallied by generally small amounts Monday from the overall weakness it was experiencing going into the weekend. Although Tropical Storm (TS) Don had long since dissipated over South Texas and forecasts going out to mid-August are more moderate than before, heat is building to high — sometimes severe — levels in much of the U.S., especially in the central region and parts of the desert Southwest.
Price Drops Across the Board Grow Larger
It was no surprise when cash market weakness increased greatly Friday. Not only was there the previous day’s futures drop of 31.6 cents as a depressant, but generally moderate weather forecasts in most areas and the weekend factor of declining industrial load played a part.
Shales Seen as International Investor ‘Stepping Stone’
The smell of success emanating from North American shale gas plays has wafted overseas, drawing foreign investors to joint ventures (JV) with U.S. producers. Eventually some of those foreign investors will be acquiring U.S. energy companies, Deloitte LLP consultants said.
Weather, Futures Spur Gains at Most Points
It wasn’t a complete upturn, but the hints in the previous day’s market that a lessening of overall weakness might lead to a general rally Thursday came to fruition. Abetted by the May futures increase of 9.2 cents Wednesday and a rather slow easing of cold weather in much of the northern U.S. and Canada, a mixed market saw gains outnumbering losses.
Screen Drop Likely to Extend Cash Softening
The cash market was showing growing signs of weakness as the mostly single-digit declines that had slightly dominated weekend numbers Friday got larger in nearly all cases Monday. Forecasts of peak temperatures ranging from around 90 to either side of 100 stretched from the South Atlantic area through Oklahoma and Texas into much of the desert Southwest, but moderate to cool conditions continue to reign in the rest of the U.S. and Canada.
Midcontinent, West Lead Small Gains in Near-Flat Market
Moderately cool remained the weather watchwords for most of the U.S. and Canada, yet even with a second preceding day of futures weakness cash prices continued to stave off any substantive declines Thursday.
Futures Reach Two-Month Low as Supply Continues to Trump Demand
Natural gas futures market weakness continued to reign on Monday as the prompt-month contract recorded a two-month low before closing out the regular session at $4.309, down 15.8 cents from Friday’s finish.