Natural gas futures steady at Rs 139.30 per mmBtu in afternoon trade

Natural gas futures were trading flat at Rs 139.30 per mmBtu on July 9 as participants increased their long positions.

The commodity is finding it difficult to sustain above $1.9/mmBtu on the NYMEX.

The price has been subdued due to weaker US gas exports and as rising coronavirus cases in the US weigh on the price as it could hamper economic activity.

In the futures market, natural gas for July delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 140.10 and an intraday low of Rs 137.20 per mmBtu on Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, the commodity has touched a low of Rs 115.50 and a high of Rs 184.50.

Natural gas delivery for July slipped Rs 0.30, or 0.22 percent, to Rs 139 per mmBtu at 14:46 hours IST on a business turnover of 11,009 lots.

The same for August was flat at Rs 143.70 per mmBtu on a business volume of 1,437 lots.

The value of July and August's contracts traded so far is Rs 554.78 crore and Rs 15.51 crore, respectively.

Natural gas will trade in a range with support at Rs 134.5 and resistance at Rs 143, according to Motilal Oswal.

At 09:18 (GMT), the natural gas price was up 1.37 percent at $1.84 per mmBtu in New York.

For all commodities related news, click here