Natural Gas Ends At A 2-Month High On Storage Data

1449 ET – Natural gas prices leap 9.6% to close at $2.592/mmBtu, the highest settlement price since March 13. A weekly report from the EIA on gas inventories came in slightly bearish compared to historical averages, but was slightly bullish compared to forecasts, and that was enough to trigger a buying frenzy. “This week’s major upswing in momentum and sentiment has highly sensitized this market to even minor supportive headlines,” says Ritterbusch & Associates in a note. “But we still feel that further decline will be required in tomorrow’s rig data if this week’s price advance is to be sustained.” Baker Hughes will release its weekly rig-count report at 1 pm ET tomorrow. (dan.molinski@wsj.com)