U.S. gas futures rebound from Tuesday's almost 10% plunge

Investing.com - U.S. natural gas prices rebounded on Wednesday, as investors returned to the market to seek cheap valuations in wake of Tuessday's almost 10% plunge.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas for delivery in February jumped 10.5 cents, or 3.71%, to trade at $2.936 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours, after rising by as much as 6.15% to hit $3.016.

A day earlier, natural gas plunged 29.6 cents, or 9.47%, to settle at $2.831. It was the biggest one-day loss in 11 months.

Futures were likely to find support at $2.795 per million British thermal units, the low from January 13, and resistance at $3.228, the high from January 16.

Updated weather forecasting models for the lower 48 U.S. states continued to call for mostly seasonal temperatures from January 22 to January 29.

However, extended forecasts showed lower readings were expected for most of the nation from January 30 through February 3.

Bullish speculators are betting on the cooler weather to increase winter-heating demand for the fuel.

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 a decline of 236 billion cubic feet for the week ending January 16.

Inventories fell by 133 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change is a drop of 176 billion cubic feet. Natural gas storage in the U.S. fell by 236 billion cubic feet last week.

Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.853 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 11.0% above year-ago levels and 3.8% below the five-year average for this time of year.

Natural gas prices are down almost 37% since mid-November as an unusually mild start to winter limited demand while production soared.

Elsewhere on the Nymex, crude oil for delivery in March rallied $1.67, or 3.59%, to trade at $48.14 a barrel, while heating oil for February delivery climbed 1.97% to trade at $1.658 per gallon.