Natural gas futures firm at around Rs 185 per mmBtu in afternoon trade

Natural gas futures soared to Rs 184.90 per mmBtu on March 17 after clocking 3.1 percent gains on the NYMEX in the previous session.

The energy commodity pared gain in the afternoon trade after a gap-up start tracking weak global cues.

The commodity has been trading lower than 5, 20, 50 and 100 days' moving averages but higher than the 200-day moving average on a daily chart. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 37.39 which indicates weak momentum in prices.

Natural gas witnessed some dip buying after a recent fall in prices to touch lowest since late January. The gas also benefitted from higher US gas exports and lower price makes it attractive for usage in the power sector.

Kshitij Purohit, Product Manager, Currency & Commodities, CapitalVia Global Research Limited said, “Natural gas traded positive during the last trading day. The weather is expected to be warmer than normal throughout most of the east coast and the mid-west for the next 8-14 days. This should weigh on heating demand with support for the Natural Gas is at Rs 179 levels below it may come down Rs 175 levels whereas the resistance for the energy is at Rs 189.

MCX iCOMDEX Natural Gas Index was up 9.80 points or 0.40 percent to 2,444.47.

In the futures market, natural gas for March delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 186.30 and an intraday low of Rs 184.90 per mmBtu on MCX. So far in the current series, natural gas has touched a low of Rs 175 and a high of Rs 222.20.

Natural gas delivery for March gained Rs 0.50, or 0.27 percent, to Rs 184.90 per mmBtu at 14:31 hours IST with a business turnover of 12,313 lots.

Natural gas delivery for April rose Rs 0.80, or 0.43 percent, to Rs 188.70 per mmBtu with a business volume of 2,511 lots.

The value of March and April’s contracts traded so far is Rs 484.70 crore and Rs 27.53 crore, respectively.

Natural gas fell sharply in the last few days and we are just seeing some relief rally which may extend a little further however a sharp rise is unlikely unless there are fresh triggers, said Kotak Securities.

At 09:05 (GMT), the natural gas price declined 0.43 percent quoting at $2.55 per mmBtu in New York.

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