US natural gas prices took a hit yesterday as analysts mounted their calls that the end of the heating season in the United States is near. While recent weather forecasts pointed to a period of below-average temperatures, average temperatures in this period of the year are usually high enough for demand for heating to drop significantly. Expectations for today's EIA natural gas storage report (3:30 pm BST) also strongly hint that the heating season in the US is drawing to close - median estimate is for a 25 billion cubic feet increase in stockpiles. If confirmed, this would be the second inventory build of 2023 and the first one since mid-January.
Taking a look at NATGAS chart at H4 interval, we can see that price has halted recent upward correction at the resistance zone marked with $2.24 handle and the 23.6% retracement of the downward move launched at the beginning of March 2023. Price launched a pullback and move back to the $2.08 per MMBTu. After a few hours of struggle in the area, sellers managed to push the price below the $2.08 mark this morning. Volatility on the NATGAS market is likely to be elevated around 3:30 pm BST when the EIA report is released. Should analysts be mistaken with their forecasts and US natural gas inventories actually drop, NATGAS could see a price spike.
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Source: xStation5
