Dow Jones Natural Gas - Morning Commentary

DJ Natural Gas Boosted by Technical Trading



  By Timothy Puko


  Natural gas prices are inching up as traders who move based on charts and momentum are giving the market a boost
during a weekly lull, analysts said.

  Natural gas for June delivery climbed 2.3 cents, or 0.8%, to $2.799 a million British thermal units on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. Trading has stayed within a 5-cent range.

  Weather is largely unchanged and trading is often calm ahead of the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly
update on storage levels. That leaves technical traders as the likely driving force in the market so far, analysts
said.

  Prices recently surpassed their 50-day moving average and are nearing their 100-day moving average. Crossing those
key trend lines can be a signal that the momentum is likely to send prices higher, said Martin King, vice president of
institutional research at FirstEnergy Capital Corp. in Calgary. Bearish traders also appear to be waiting to pounce,
likely for prices to hit new lows for the week, Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy-advisory firm Ritterbusch &
Associates said in a note.

  "[It's] a market unwilling to trade much higher or lower," Mr. King said.

  That is common on Thursday mornings. Many won't move until the EIA update, a key indicator of supply and demand.
Forecasters are expecting a 75 billion cubic-feet addition to stockpiles for the week ended May 1, according to The
Wall Street Journal survey. That would be in line with recent past averages, ending a several-week string of strongly
above-average surpluses.

  Physical gas for next-day delivery at the Henry Hub in Louisiana last traded at $2.77/mmBtu, compared with
Wednesday's range of $2.74-$2.76. Cash prices at the Transco Z6 hub in New York traded in a bid-ask range of
$2.79/mmBtu to $2.83/mmBtu, compared with Wednesday's range of $2.77 to $2.815.


  Write to Timothy Puko at tim.puko@wsj.com


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  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  May 07, 2015 09:38 ET (13:38 GMT)

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050715 13:38 -- GMT
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