Natural gas futures give back 2% from Monday's 8% rally

Investing.com - U.S. natural gas prices were under pressure during early U.S. morning hours on Tuesday, as investors cashed out of the market to lock in gains from the previous session's 8% rally.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas for delivery in December fell 10.0 cents, or 2.3%, to trade at $4.241 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours.

A day earlier, natural gas prices soared 32.1 cents, or 7.99%, to settle at $4.341 per million British thermal units, after a blast of cold air shot across the U.S. and fueled expectations for increased heating demand.

Futures were likely to find support at $4.113 per million British thermal units, the low from November 17, and resistance at $4.347, the high from November 17.

Updated weather forecasting models showed slightly more cold over the next two weeks in the lower 48 states, while the Midwest and East Coast could see below-normal temperatures at the beginning of December.

The freezing weather outlook sent natural gas prices soaring on expectations for households and business to crank up their heating and send thermal power plants to burn more of the commodity to meet demand.

The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.

Meanwhile, investors continued to digest last week's inventory data, which showed that natural gas storage in the U.S. rose by 40 billion cubic feet, above expectations for an increase of 39 billion.

Inventories rose by 22 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change is a build of 16 billion cubic feet.

Injections of gas into storage have surpassed the five-year average for 30 consecutive weeks, alleviating concerns over tightening supplies.

Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.611 trillion cubic feet as of last week, narrowing the deficit to the five-year average to 6.2% from a record 54.7% at the end of March.

The Energy Information Administration's next storage report is slated for release on Thursday, November 20, with analysts expecting a decline of 18 billion cubic feet for the week ending November 14.

The five-year average change for the week is a decrease of 10 billion cubic feet.

Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in January lost 28 cents, or 0.36%, to trade at $75.39 a barrel, while heating oil for December delivery slumped 1.04% to trade at $2.379 per gallon.