Natural gas futures traders appeared to be keeping their powder dry early Thursday ahead of the latest government inventory report, with prices hovering close to even day/day. The September Nymex contract was up 0.6 cents to $2.158/MMBtu at around 8:45 a.m. ET.

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Reflecting last week’s supply/demand dynamics in the face of cooler weather and impacts from Hurricane Isaias, predictions for the Energy Information Administration (EIA) report, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET, have been pointing to a larger-than-average injection. A Bloomberg survey of analyst estimates ranged from a build of 42 Bcf to as high as 65 Bcf, with a median of 56 Bcf. A Reuters poll had a tighter range, and a median injection of 57 Bcf, while a Wall Street Journal poll landed on a build of 56 Bcf. NGI projected a...