Investing.com - Natural gas futures rose for the first time in six sessions on Wednesday, as investors returned to the market to seek cheap valuations after prices fell to a six-week low on Tuesday.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas for delivery in June traded at $4.392 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours, up 0.78%, or 3.4 cents. Prices held in a range between $4.357 and $4.401 per million British thermal units.
Natural gas fell to $4.347 on Tuesday, the weakest level since April 3, before settling at $4.358, down 1.71%, or 7.6 cents.
Futures were likely to find support at $4.312 per million British thermal units, the low from April 3 and resistance at $4.469, the high from May 13.
Natural gas prices have lost nearly 8% since May 7 as a weakening demand outlook combined with receding concerns over tight inventories weighed.
Updated weather forecasting models released earlier continued to call for warmer-than-average weather over much of the Midwest and Northeast over the next 15 days, which was likely to lower heating demand.
Spring and fall see the weakest demand for the fuel in the U.S, as the absence of extreme temperatures curbs demand for heating and air conditioning.
Approximately 52% of U.S. households use natural gas for heating, according to the Energy Department.
Meanwhile, market players looked ahead to Thursday’s closely-watched weekly supply data to gauge the strength of demand in the U.S. in the week ending May 9.
Early injection estimates range from 80 billion cubic feet to 100 billion cubic feet. The five-year average change for the week is a build of 82 billion cubic feet, while supplies rose by 98 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at an 11-year low of 1.055 trillion cubic feet as of last week. Producers would need to add 2.6 trillion to 2.9 trillion cubic feet to storage by November 1 to meet typical winter demand, analysts said.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, U.S. crude oil for delivery in June rose 0.6%, or 61 cents, to trade at $102.31 a barrel, while heating oil for June delivery tacked on 0.29% to trade at $2.952 per gallon.