Investing.com - Natural gas futures were higher for the first time in six days on Wednesday, as market players returned to the market to seek cheap valuations after prices fell to the lowest level since March during the previous session.
Gains were expected to remain limited as traders continued to focus on near-term weather forecasts to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel.
Market participants also looked ahead to Thursday’s closely-watched U.S. supply data to gauge the strength of demand from U.S. households.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in September traded at USD3.445 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, up 0.35%.
The September contract settled down 1.15% at USD3.432 per million British thermal units on Tuesday, the weakest level since March 4.
Weather forecasting models continued to point to cooler temperatures across much of the U.S. Northeast and Midwest over the next six-to-ten-days, dampening summer cooling demand for the fuel.
Demand for natural gas tends to fluctuate in the summer based on hot weather and air conditioning use.
Meanwhile, U.S. supply levels also remained in focus. Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.786 trillion cubic feet as of last week, just 2% below the five-year average and about 13% below last year's level.
Early injection estimates for this week’s storage data range from 47 billion cubic feet to 63 billion cubic feet, compared to a 28 billion cubic feet increase during the same week a year earlier.
The five-year average for the week is a build of 47 billion cubic feet.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in September rose 0.2% to trade at USD103.29 a barrel, while heating oil for September delivery shed 0.5% to trade at USD2.994 per gallon.
Gains were expected to remain limited as traders continued to focus on near-term weather forecasts to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel.
Market participants also looked ahead to Thursday’s closely-watched U.S. supply data to gauge the strength of demand from U.S. households.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in September traded at USD3.445 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, up 0.35%.
The September contract settled down 1.15% at USD3.432 per million British thermal units on Tuesday, the weakest level since March 4.
Weather forecasting models continued to point to cooler temperatures across much of the U.S. Northeast and Midwest over the next six-to-ten-days, dampening summer cooling demand for the fuel.
Demand for natural gas tends to fluctuate in the summer based on hot weather and air conditioning use.
Meanwhile, U.S. supply levels also remained in focus. Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.786 trillion cubic feet as of last week, just 2% below the five-year average and about 13% below last year's level.
Early injection estimates for this week’s storage data range from 47 billion cubic feet to 63 billion cubic feet, compared to a 28 billion cubic feet increase during the same week a year earlier.
The five-year average for the week is a build of 47 billion cubic feet.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in September rose 0.2% to trade at USD103.29 a barrel, while heating oil for September delivery shed 0.5% to trade at USD2.994 per gallon.