Investing.com - U.S. natural gas futures swung between small gains and losses during U.S. morning trade on Tuesday, as market players monitored near-term weather forecasts to gauge the strength of demand for the fuel ahead of this week's closely-watched supply report.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas for delivery in November traded at $3.920 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours, up 0.4 cents, or 0.1%.
A day earlier, natural gas futures rallied 5.7 cents, or 1.48%, to settle at $3.916.
Futures were likely to find support at $3.815 per million British thermal units, the low from October 9, and resistance at $3.947, the high from October 8.
Updated weather-forecasting models continued to call for pockets of cool air to trek across the U.S. in the coming days through the end of the month, likely boosting early winter heating demand.
The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly storage report slated for release on Thursday is expected to show an increase of 98 billion cubic feet for the week ending October 10.
Inventories rose by 79 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change is a build of 78 billion cubic feet.
Injections of gas into storage have surpassed the five-year average for 25 consecutive weeks, alleviating concerns over tightening supplies.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.205 trillion cubic feet as of last week, narrowing the deficit to the five-year average to 11% from a record 54.7% at the end of March.
Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in November fell 73 cents, or 0.85%, to trade at $85.01 a barrel, while heating oil for November delivery sank 1.12% to trade at $2.528 per gallon.