Investing.com - Natural gas futures edged higher on Wednesday after investors priced in the impact below-normal temperatures making their way across the U.S. will have on demand and went long on expectations for seasonably warm temperatures to follow.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in August traded at $4.131 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading, up 0.82%. The commodity hit a session high of $4.145 and a low of $4.087.
The August contract settled down 1.21% on Tuesday to end at $4.097 per million British thermal units.
Natural gas futures were likely to find support at $4.081 per million British thermal units, Tuesday's low, and resistance at $4.173, Monday's high.
A weather system similar to the Polar Vortex from last winter has ushered in below-normal temperatures in the Midwest and eastern U.S. this week, which sent natural gas prices dipping on concerns demand for air conditioning will fall.
By Wednesday, prices rose as investors turned their attention from current mercury readings to weather forecasts, which called for a return of typical summertime temperatures across the U.S.
Investors also reshuffled positions ahead of Thursday’s closely-watched supply report to gauge the strength of cooling demand.
This weekly’s supply data was expected to show that natural gas storage in the U.S. rose by 100 billion cubic feet in the week ended July 11. The five-year average increase for the period is 65 billion.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.022 trillion cubic feet as of last week, 24.4% below their level this time last year and 27.5% below the five-year average.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in August were up 1.22% at $101.18 a barrel, while heating oil for August delivery were up 0.10% at $2.8585 per gallon.