Natural gas futures inch higher with supply data in focus
Investing.com
Published Dec 18, 2013 10:01AM ET
Natural gas prices rise modestly ahead of storage data
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in January traded at USD4.306 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, up 0.45%. Nymex January gas futures held in a range between USD4.281 per million British thermal units and USD4.332.
Natural gas futures were likely to find support at USD4.194 per million British thermal units, the low from December 17 and resistance at USD4.443, the high from December 13.
The January contract settled 0.19% higher on Tuesday to end at USD4.287 per million British thermal units.
Market participants looked ahead to Thursday’s closely-watched U.S. supply data to gauge the strength of demand from U.S. households.
Early withdrawal estimates range from 180 billion cubic feet to 229 billion cubic feet, compared to a drop of 70 billion cubic feet during the same week a year earlier. The five-year average change for the week is a decline of 133 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.533 trillion cubic feet as last week, more than 7% below last year's unusually high level and nearly 3% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Meanwhile, market players continued to focus on weather forecasts to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel.
The U.S. National Weather Service said it expected above-normal temperatures along the East coast from New York to Florida in the next six-to-10-days. The agency’s eight-to-14-day outlook showed above-normal temperatures in the western part of the country.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in February added 0.65% to trade at USD98.09 a barrel, while heating oil for January delivery rose 0.6% to trade at USD2.981 per gallon.
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Written By: Investing.com
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