Natural gas futures down 0.12% to Rs 163.30 per mmBtu in afternoon trade

Natural gas futures eased to Rs 163.30 per mmBtu on August 7 as participants increased their short positions Prices slipped 1.2 percent on August 6 after a sharp rally on the NYMEX in the last few days.

The commodity is being supported by hot weather in some parts of the US, which is increasing cooling demand, but concerns over the state of the US economy and rising coronavirus cases globally are keeping the upside capped.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US natural gas inventories jumped 33 billion cubic feet (BCF) for the week-ended July 31.

In the futures market, natural gas for August delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 163.50 and a low of Rs 160.80 per mmBtu on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, the commodity has touched a low of Rs 121.40 and a high of Rs 171.60.

Natural gas futures for August delivery slipped Rs 0.20, or 0.12 percent, to Rs 163.30 per mmBtu at 14:53 hours IST on a business turnover of 7,379 lots. The same for September delivery declined Rs 0.20, or 0.11 percent, at Rs 174.10 per mmBtu on a business volume of 1,152 lots.

The value of August and September contracts traded so far is Rs 520.59 crore and Rs 16.84 crore, respectively.

"Natural gas is still holding above the key $2/mmBtu level, indicating that the overall momentum is still positive. However, we are likely to see some profit-taking amid a lack of fresh triggers," Kotak Securities said.

At 09:29 (GMT), natural gas prices was up 0.46 percent at $2.17 per mmBtu in New York.