IV:Natural gas futures little changed near 8-week high
Investing.com - Natural gas futures were little changed near the previous session’s eight-week high on Wednesday, amid expectation this week’s U.S. supply data will show a below-average increase in inventories.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in October traded at USD3.740 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, down 0.15%.
Natural gas prices traded in a range between USD3.716 per million British thermal units, the daily low and a session high of USD3.754.
The October contract settled 0.2% higher at USD3.745 per million British thermal units on Tuesday, after hitting a session high of USD3.775, the strongest level since July 24.
Nymex gas futures were likely to find support at USD3.627 per million British thermal units, the low from September 16 and near-term resistance at USD3.779, the high from July 24.
Early injection estimates for Thursday’s storage data range from 55 billion cubic feet to 68 billion cubic feet, compared to a 61 billion cubic feet increase during the same week a year earlier.
The five-year average for the week is a build of 74 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.253 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 1.4% above the five-year average for the same week and 5% below last year's unusually high level.
Market participants also focused on near-term weather forecasts to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel.
Updated weather forecasting models pointed to above-average temperatures across most parts of the U.S. Midwest during the next six-to-ten days, boosting near-term demand expectations.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in November added 0.6% to trade at USD105.45 a barrel, while heating oil for October delivery declined 0.2% to trade at USD2.992 per gallon.
