Natural gas futures surge 1.33% to Rs 198 per mmBtu in afternoon trade

Natural gas futures soared to Rs 198 per mmBtu on December 17 as participants increased their long positions as seen by the open interest. Natural gas price had gained 0.2 percent yesterday on the NYMEX.

Natural gas rates traded higher on expectations of a bigger-than-average decline in US gas stocks, tightening US market and record LNG exports.

MCX iCOMDEX Natural Gas Index inched higher by 32.05 points or 1.33 percent to 2,450.68.

Kshtij Purohit, Product Manager, Currency and Commodities, CapitalVia Global Research Limited said, “Natural Gas price is trading positive before the inventory data. Increase in cold weather results raised consumption and pushed prices higher. The important level for natural gas is Rs 210 which is a 50-day SMA.”

The price is expected to trade between Rs 195 and Rs 204, he said.

In the futures market, natural gas for December delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 200.50 and an intraday low of Rs 197.60 per mmBtu on MCX. So far in the current series, natural gas has touched a low of Rs 175.90 and a high of Rs 259.80.

Natural gas delivery for December gained Rs 2.60, or 1.33 percent, to Rs 198 per mmBtu at 14:33 hours IST with a business turnover of 12,496 lots.

Natural gas delivery for January edged higher Rs 2.70, or 1.38 percent, to Rs 198.90 per mmBtu with a business volume of 1,843 lots.

The value of December and January’s contracts traded so far is Rs 926.86 crore and Rs 41.22 crore, respectively.

Natural gas may continue to trade firm ahead of inventory report; however, we may not see much gain unless EIA reports a large drop in inventory, said Kotak Securities.

At 09:06 (GMT), the natural gas price was up 0.15 percent quoting at $2.68 per mmBtu in New York.

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