Natural gas futures rise nearly 3.5% on supply crunch; weekly inventory report in focus

Natural gas futures climbed for the second straight day on October 14 as participants increased their long positions as seen by the open interest. The gas price had risen 1.5 percent yesterday on the NYMEX.

The energy commodity traded in the green since morning, tracking the firm global trend.

On the MCX, natural gas delivery for October soared Rs 14.50, or 3.47 percent, to Rs 432 per mmBtu at 14:48 hours with a business turnover of 3,794 lots.

Gas delivery for November rose by Rs 15.10, or 3.51 percent, to Rs 444.80 with a business volume of 2,722 lots.

The value of October and November contracts traded so far is Rs 945.63 crore and Rs 88.36 crore, respectively.

MCX Enrgdex advanced by 93 points or 1.46 percent at 6,442 at 14:51. The index tracks the real-time performance of MCX Crude Oil and MCX Natural Gas futures.

Natural gas traded higher supported by higher gas and coal price in the international market as participants remain concerned that efforts to ease supply crunch may not materialise soon, said Kotak Securities.

The gas price has bounced back reflecting higher global prices, however, a sustained rise is unlikely if the US EIA weekly inventory report notes an increase in gas stocks in line with or bigger than expectations, the brokerage firm said.

Investors will look forward to the Department of Energy's weekly inventory report to be released later in the day. As per survey provider Estimize, a 109 billion cubic feet (Bcf) boost in stockpiles is expected.

However, weighing on the price is relatively better supplied US gas market and lack of US capacity to boost LNG exports significantly.

Technicals

The commodity has been trading higher than 5, 20, 50, 100, and 200-day simple and exponential moving averages on the daily chart. The momentum indicator Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 59.53, which indicates strength in the price.

At 09:37 GMT, the natural gas price gained 2.43 percent to $5.72 per mmBtu in New York.

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