Natural gas futures extended their recent rally in early trading Monday, drawing on a combination of technical momentum and colder March forecast trends. Coming off a 11.6-cent gain to close out last week’s trading, the April Nymex contract was up 15.0 cents to $2.698/MMBtu at around 8:40 a.m. ET.

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Taking over as the new prompt month, the April contract is “benefiting from nascent technical momentum” and a “notable cold shift” in recent forecasts, EBW Analytics Group analyst Eli Rubin told clients early Monday.

In terms of technical factors, prices could be “primed for a robust run higher,” potentially riding “the tailwind of building momentum from a 48.4-cent rise from Wednesday’s intraday low,” the analyst said. Natural gas also crossed a “key technical...