Natural gas futures trade firm at Rs 197.20 per mmBtu in afternoon trade

Natural gas futures traded firm at Rs 197.20 per mmBtu on October 6 as participants increased their long positions, as seen by the open interest. Natural gas had gained 6.79 percent the previous day on the MCX Index.

Natural gas price has been getting support from rising US gas exports which has risen 28 percent week-on-week.

In the futures market, natural gas for October delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 197.90 and an intraday low of Rs 192.60 per mmBtu on the MCX. So far in the current series, natural gas has touched a low of Rs 179.10 and a high of Rs 221.

Natural gas delivery for October gained Rs 1.80, or 0.92 percent, to Rs 197.20 per mmBtu at 2:38 pm with a business turnover of 8,237 lots.

Natural gas delivery for November rose Rs 2.20, or 0.94 percent at Rs 236.60 per mmBtu with a business volume of 1,833 lots.

The value of October and November’s contracts traded so far is Rs 1,165.46 crore and Rs 36.31 crore, respectively.

On the hourly chart, price is trading above 20-EMA which is a bullish sign for prices. RSI is trading at 65.64 indicating higher momentum.

MCX natural gas price is expected to trade in a positive trend with support at the Rs 188 level and resistance at the Rs 191 level, said Motilal Oswal in a note. The brokerage firm advised its clients to buy on dip targeting higher resistance at Rs 196-199 zone.

At 09:13 am GMT, the natural gas price was up 1.99 percent quoting at $2.66 per mmBtu in New York.