Markets

December natural gas is set to open 8 cents higher Monday morning at $2.70 even though clouds are darkening over the longer-term weather outlook. Analysts see a supportive political environment going forward and healthy prices in 2017. Overnight oil markets fell.

As a way to curb peak winter day natural gas use, the five-member California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Thursday approved consumer programs for Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas).

Both natural gas cash and futures staged stout gains in trading Monday, in spite of a weather environment that looked anything but supportive. Leading the pack to new highs were Marcellus points, but no points followed by NGI showed losses.

December natural gas is expected to open 5 cents lower Friday morning at $2.58 as traders assess the likelihood of mild conditions and continued storage builds continuing into December. Overnight oil markets fell.

This week’s presidential election wasn’t the only thing sending shockwaves through the natural gas industry. Persistently mild weather and expectations of bearish storage news once again took a toll on natural gas forwards markets, which swung wildly between Nov. 4 and 9 and ultimately slid about 8 cents on average, according to NGI’s Forward Look.

Weekend and Monday natural gas went begging in Friday’s trading as price gains in Appalachia and the Northeast prompted by a brief weekend tease of cold air couldn’t counter weakness in the Midcontinent, Rockies and California.

The weekly natural gas cash average failed to break under $2 for the week ended Nov. 11, but the stress of moderate weather and record storage inventories prompted double-digit losses throughout the country with the notable exception of Appalachia and the Northeast, which were propped up by a potential bout of cold.

December natural gas is expected to open 7 cents lower Thursday morning at $2.62 as traders continue to juggle ongoing warmth, which now looks likely to push injections through November, and weekly storage figures likely to show storage at all-time record levels. Overnight oil markets were mixed.

Analysts with Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research(BofAML) said the election of Donald Trump caught financial markets by surprise and that uncertainty will likely continue through the medium term, in part because of comments the president-elect made on the campaign trail about free trade and immigration.