Natural gas futures rose in New York on speculation demand for the industrial and power-plant fuel will increase as the U.S. economy recovers. Gas gained for the second day this week as data showed sales at U.S. retailers rose in March for a ninth consecutive month. Industrial demand for gas will rise 3.6 percent this year to 18.73 billion cubic feet a day, the highest level since 2004, an Energy Department report yesterday showed. “It seems the market is unwilling to establish any sort of bearish sentiment below $4,” said Brad Florer, a trader at Kottke Associates Inc., an energy trading firm in Louisville, Kentucky. “The economy is ultimately what’s going to determine the market.” Natural gas for May delivery gained 3.5 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $4.133 per million British thermal units at 9:04 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures have dropped 6.2 percent this year. To contact the reporter on this story: Moming Zhou in New York at Mzhou29@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net

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