Natural gas moves off lows from bearish springtime weather forecasts
Published Mar 19, 2014 01:41PM ET
Updated Mar 19, 2014 02:01PM ET
Investing.com - Natural gas futures rose on Wednesday after bottom fishers snapped up nicely-priced positions in the commodity and erased losses stemming from expectations that spring's mild temperatures will cut into demand for heating.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in April traded at $4.472 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading, up 0.35%. The commodity hit session high of $4.504 and a low of $4.421.
The April contract settled down 1.76% on Tuesday to end at $4.456 per million British thermal units.
Natural gas futures were likely to find support at $4.342 per million British thermal units, Friday's low, and resistance at $4.585, Monday's high.
Gas prices took a dive on Tuesday after updated weather-forecasting models called for seasonably mild temperatures to settle in over portions of the central and eastern reaches of the country through the rest of the week.
Mild temperatures in spring and fall tend to push natural gas prices lower due to reduced demand for heating or air conditioning.
Prices slumped to a seven-week low of $4.342 per million British thermal units on Friday.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption. Approximately 52% of U.S. households use natural gas for heating, according to the Energy Department.
Last week, total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 1.001 trillion cubic feet, the lowest for this time of year since 2003.
Investors looked ahead to Thursday’s closely-watched weekly supply data. Early withdrawal estimates data range from 53 billion cubic feet to 100 billion cubic feet.
Stockpiles declined by 74 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier while the five-year average change for the week is a drop of 30 billion cubic feet.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in May were down 0.12% and trading at $98.76 a barrel, while heating oil for April delivery were down 0.42% and trading at $2.9032 per gallon.
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Written By: Investing.com
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