Natural gas futures close in on fresh 52-week high on increased demand, tighter stocks

The commodity has been trading higher than 5, 20, 50, 100 and 200 days' simple moving averages and exponential moving averages on the daily chart.

Natural gas futures were trading higher on July 14 and were within striking distance of a fresh 52-week high as participants raised their bullish bet as seen from the open interest. On NYMEX, gas prices had fallen 1.4 percent on July 13.

The commodity traded in the green after a gap-up start, tracking the positive global trend.

On the MCX, natural gas delivery for July climbed Rs 1.30, or 0.47 percent, to Rs 276.50 per mmBtu at 1438 hours with a business turnover of 16,040 lots.

Gas delivery for August rose Rs 1.30, or 0.47 percent, to Rs 276.10 per mmBtu with a business volume of 2,359 lots.

The value of July and August contracts traded, so far, is Rs 688.97 crore and Rs 53.11 crore, respectively.

MCX iCOMDEX Natural Gas Index increased 14.67 points or 0.44 percent to 3,373.08.

Kotak Securities said natural gas was trading in a broad range of $3.5-3.8/mmBtu after testing the December 2018 highs last week as market players waited for fresh triggers.

The price was also supported by the forecast of hot weather, which will increase cooling demand and higher US gas exports.

The Platts West India Marker, or WIM, was assessed at $13.029/MMBtu on July 9, compared with $11.450/MMBtu a month ago and $9.325/MMBtu two months earlier.

Jeff Moore, manager for Asian LNG Analytics at Platts, said India had shown some unwillingness to take LNG at such high prices, mostly in the form of unawarded tenders, adding that imports fell by 13 percent in June compared to year-ago levels to reach 87 million cu m/d.

Technicals

The commodity has been trading higher than 5, 20, 50, 100 and 200-day simple moving averages and exponential moving averages on the daily chart. The momentum indicator RSI is at 67.16, which suggests strength in the price.

The gas price may remain choppy unless there are fresh triggers but tighter stocks and higher demand expectations may support the price. We may see the positioning of inventory report tomorrow, said Kotak Securities.

At 0917 GMT, the natural gas price was slightly up 0.04 percent at $3.69 per mmBtu in New York.

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