Dow Jones - Natural Gas Rises As Bottom Seekers Pounce

DJ Natural Gas Rises as Bottom-Seekers Pounce


   By Timothy Puko


  Natural gas futures are making some of their largest gains in weeks as slightly cooler forecasts and a stalled
plummet have emboldened bottom-pickers, analysts and brokers said.

  Futures for December delivery recently traded up 5.5 cents, or 2.4%, at $2.308 /mmBtu on the New York Mercantile
Exchange.

  It has been a rough season for gas, with front-month prices plummeting from near $3/mmBtu in August all the way down
to nearly $2 when the November contract expired a week ago. The December contract had never quite fallen that far and
has held close to the $2.30/mmBtu level it was at when it became the front-month contract.

  That plateau has some traders that move based on charts and momentum thinking that the collapse has ended, at least
for now. Many will close out bearish positions in response, which means buying back contracts and bidding up prices,
brokers and analysts said.

  Weather forecasts are also helping. Prices had fallen so far in part because record supply is flooding the market and
filling stockpiles while weather forecasts for early November have suggested heating demand isn't on the way to stoke
demand. Forecasts are still largely showing above-normal temperatures, but they have pulled back slightly, showing more
expected heating demand than last week's forecasts.

  Wednesday's trade "appears to be pricing in the possibility of a cold spell later this month," Jim Ritterbusch,
president of energy-advisory firm Ritterbusch & Associates, said in a note.

  Physical gas for next-day delivery at the Henry Hub in Louisiana last traded at $2.05/mmBtu, compared with Tuesday's
range of $1.85-$1.94. Cash prices at the Transco Z6 hub in New York last traded at $1.35/mmBtu, compared with Tuesday's
range of $1.27-$1.45.


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


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  (END) Dow Jones Newswires

  November 04, 2015 09:58 ET (14:58 GMT)

  Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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