Natural gas futures dropped to Rs 209.80 per mmBtu on April 26 as participants increased their short positions as seen by the open interest. Natural gas had jumped 2.25 percent last week on the MCX.
The energy commodity traded in the negative territory after a gap-down start in the afternoon session tracking weak global cues.
The commodity has been trading higher than 5, 20, 50, 100 and 200 days' moving averages on a daily chart. The momentum indicator Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 67.62 which indicates bullish movement in the prices.
US CFTC data showed natural gas speculators raised their net longs in futures and options positions by 22,660 contracts to 218,086 in the week to April 20.
The number of rigs drilling natural gas in the US steady at 94 rigs for the week to April 23, said energy services firm Baker Hughes in a weekly report.
The weather is expected to be warmer than normal on the east and west coast and normal throughout the mid-west for the next 2-weeks.
Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities said, “International natural gas futures have started flat to lower this Morning morning and in the early afternoon in Asian trade. Technically, NYMEX Natural Gas could trade in a range of $2.60-2.90 levels.”
“Technically, MCX Natural Gas May could see a positive session in coming session up to Rs 213-215 levels as it holds strong support at 209-207 levels”, Iyer added.
MCX iCOMDEX Natural Gas Index was down 17.52 points or 0.66 percent to 2,625.32.
In the futures market, natural gas for May delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 213.20 and an intraday low of Rs 209.49 per mmBtu on MCX. So far in the current series, natural gas has touched a low of Rs 184.10 and a high of Rs 216.40.
Natural gas delivery for May slipped Rs 1.40, or 0.66 percent, to Rs 209.80 per mmBtu at 14:36 hours IST with a business turnover of 16,917 lots.
Natural gas delivery for June fell Rs 1.50, or 0.73 percent, to Rs 203.20 per mmBtu with a business volume of 4,004 lots.
The value of May and June’s contracts traded so far is Rs 269.19 crore and Rs 83.19 crore, respectively.
At 09:09 (GMT), the natural gas price eased 0.43 percent quoting at $2.80 per mmBtu in New York.
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