MidDay Alert

Natural gas futures clawed back some of their recent losses through midday trading Friday as the market continued to mull a mix of fundamental factors, including restrained production, mild weather and plump inventories. Meanwhile, little buying interest for weekend and Monday delivery had cash prices falling hard. Here’s the latest: May Nymex futures at $1.804/MMBtu…

Natural gas futures continued to stumble through midday trading Thursday as the market reaffirmed its initial bearish response to the latest government inventory report. Meanwhile, spot prices were down sharply despite unseasonably cool spring temperatures forecast for the Midwest and East through the weekend. Here’s the latest: May Nymex contract down 5.8 cents to $1.783/MMBtu…

After initially probing higher, natural gas futures dipped through midday trading Wednesday. Shoulder-season conditions appeared to be offering few clear signals to push prices in either direction. Here’s the latest: May Nymex futures down 2.2 cents to $1.840/MMBtu as of 2:15 p.m. ET Longer-dated contracts were seeing larger declines. The natural gas market enters the…

With bulls aiming to send prices higher for a third straight session, natural gas futures were up modestly through midday trading Tuesday as weaker production volumes and stronger physical prices hinted at tightening market conditions.  Here’s the latest: May Nymex futures at $1.854/MMBtu as of 2:13 p.m. ET, up 1.7 cents The front month dipped…

The first day of April brought bullish price action to both natural gas futures and physical markets through midday Monday as a notable dip in production volumes appeared to fuel upward momentum. Still, like anything else on April 1, it may be best to approach first-of-the-month production estimates with some skepticism. Here’s the latest: May…

Natural gas futures were rallying through midday Thursday as the market continued to mull the balance implications of a storage result that landed on the bullish end of expectations. Cash prices, traded for Monday delivery, were generally pushing higher. Here’s the latest: May Nymex contract up 4.8 cents to $1.766/MMBtu at around 2:10 p.m. ET,…

Near-term demand weakness, including from a milder shoulder season temperature outlook and declining export volumes, had natural gas futures trading lower through midday Wednesday. Physical prices for multi-day delivery over the upcoming holiday weekend saw heavy discounts. Here’s the latest: May Nymex contract down 7.5 cents to $1.713/MMBtu as of 2:21 p.m. ET NGI modeling…

Shoulder season doldrums appeared to be setting in for natural gas futures traders Tuesday, though the April contract was flashing last-minute fireworks on its final day. Meanwhile, cash trading continued to reflect swollen storage levels and underwhelming springtime temperatures. Here’s the latest: April Nymex contract at $1.563/MMBtu as of 2:20 p.m. ET, off 5.2 cents;…

Natural gas futures traded slightly lower through midday Monday as excess inventories continued to weigh down prices despite production volumes stabilizing at weaker levels. Here’s the latest: Soon-to-expire April Nymex contract at $1.640/MMBtu as of 2:07 p.m. ET, off 1.9 cents day/day but up from $1.589 intraday low The April contract appeared to be finding…