Investing.com - Natural gas futures trimmed gains on Wednesday on expectations that a return of mild springtime temperatures across the U.S. in the coming days will ease demand for heating.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, Natural Gas futures for delivery in May traded at $4.419 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading, up 0.10%. The commodity hit session high of $4.426 and a low of $4.355.
The May contract settled up 3.32% on Tuesday to end at $4.414 per million British thermal units.
Natural gas futures were likely to find support at $4.258 per million British thermal units, Monday's low, and resistance at $4.428, Tuesday's high.
Natural gas prices rose after powerful winter storm formed over the Atlantic and pummeled the northeastern U.S. this week, bringing heavy snow and frigid temperatures to heavily-populated portions of the country.
By Wednesday, profit taking wiped out most of the commodity's gains, as a return of seasonably milder temperatures in roughly a week should prompt households to throttle back on heating, while higher temperatures that hike demand for air conditioning remain far off on the horizon.
Meanwhile, market players looked ahead to Thursday’s weekly supply data to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel.
Early withdrawal estimates range from a decline of 36 billion cubic feet to 76 billion cubic feet, compared to a drop of 90 billion cubic feet during the same week a year earlier.
The five-year average change for the week is a decline of 7 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 953 billion cubic feet as of last week, the lowest for this time of year since 2003, following a smaller than expected withdrawal of 48 billion cubic feet.
Natural gas prices have been under heavy selling pressure in recent sessions amid concerns that the arrival of spring will bring warmer temperatures throughout the U.S. and cut into demand for heating.
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.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet Crude Oil futures for delivery in May were up 0.72% and trading at $99.90 a barrel, while Heating Oil for May delivery were down 0.55% and trading at $2.9046 per gallon.