DJ Natural-Gas Prices Rise Amid Forecasts For Cooler Weather
By Timothy Puko
Natural-gas prices rose Friday, boosted by slightly cooler weather forecasts and the chance for more heating demand.
Natural gas for November delivery gained 3 cents, or 0.8%, at $3.962 a million British thermal units on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. Prices had briefly swung above the $4 mark in early-morning trading.
Friday's weather forecasts grew cooler, both for the coming days and two weeks out, which might spur some more
additional heating demand than expected. The worst of the chill will come over the weekend, with populated parts of the
Midwest and Southeast getting as much as 8-degrees-Fahrenheit below normal, according to MDA Weather Services.
That has pushed some to buy, especially traders who bet the price would fall after Thursday's stockpile update showed
a larger-than-expected addition, analysts said. Many of Friday's buyers were likely short sellers, traders who bet
prices would fall, buying back their contracts to close out bets, analysts said.
"The possibility of persistent below-normal temperatures in the central U.S. this month has enabled traders to shake
off some of yesterday's stock shock," said Teri Viswanath, a natural-gas strategist at BNP Paribas SA in New York, in a
note.
Physical gas for next-day delivery at the Henry Hub in Louisiana last traded at $3.92/mmBtu, compared with Thursday's
range of $3.85-$4.015. Cash prices at the Transco Z6 hub in New York traded in a bid-ask range of $1.51-$1.59/mmBtu,
compared with Thursday's range of $1.865 to $1.98.
-- Write to Timothy Puko at tim.puko@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 03, 2014 09:41 ET (13:41 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
100314 13:41 -- GMT
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