Natural gas futures waver as traders monitor weather, supplies

Investing.com - Natural gas futures swung between gains and losses on Monday, as market participants continued to focus on near-term weather forecasts and U.S. supply levels.On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in December traded at USD3.549 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning trade, down 0.3%. Nymex gas prices traded in a range between USD3.543 per million British thermal units, the daily low and a session high of USD3.597.The front-month December contract ended 1.14% higher on Friday to settle at USD3.559 per million British thermal units.Nymex gas futures were likely to find support at USD3.484 per million British thermal units, the low from November 7 and resistance at USD3.618, the high from November 7.Updated weather forecasting models called for chilly temperatures across most parts of the eastern half of the U.S. during the next six-to-ten-days.Forecasts originally called for mild weather during the period.Natural gas prices have closely tracked weather forecasts in recent weeks, as traders try to gauge the impact of shifting outlooks on early-winter heating demand. The heating season from November through March is the peak demand period for U.S. gas consumption.Meanwhile, U.S. supply levels also remained in focus. Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.814 trillion cubic feet as last week, 2.9% below last year's unusually high level but 1.5% above the five-year average for this time of year.Early injection estimates for this week's storage data range from 16 billion cubic feet to 36 billion cubic feet, compared to a 12 billion cubic feet increase during the same week a year earlier.The five-year average for the week is a build of 19 billion cubic feet.Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in December fell 0.1% to trade at USD94.51 a barrel, while heating oil for December delivery added 0.2% to trade at USD2.877 per gallon.