Natural gas futures gain 0.39% in afternoon trade

Natural gas futures rose to Rs 138.40 per mmBtu on June 16 as participants increased their long positions. Prices has been under pressure due to demand uncertainty and concerns about the health of the US economy.

The warm weather in some parts of the US has supported prices on expectation of an increase in cooling demand.

In the futures market, natural gas for June delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 128.60 and an intraday low of Rs 127 per mmBtu on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, natural gas has touched a low of Rs 126.60 and a high of Rs 179.10.

Natural gas delivery for June gained Rs 0.50, or 0.39 percent, to Rs 128.70 per mmBtu at 14:49 hours IST on a business turnover of 21,066 lots.

The same for July delivery was up Rs 0.10, or 0.07 percent, to Rs 136.10 per mmBtu on a business volume of 2,181 lots.

The value of June and July contracts traded so far is Rs 502.19 crore and Rs 16.94 crore, respectively.

Natural gas is expected to trade negatively with resistance at Rs 132 and Rs 130 levels, according to Motilal Oswal. The broking firm advised its clients to sell on rallies targeting lower support at Rs 126-124.

At 09:21 (GMT), natural gas price rose 0.60 percent to $1.67 per mmBtu in New York.