Natural Gas Prices Get a Boost on Hotter Temperature Forecasts

The Wall Street Journal reported that natural gas prices rose on Wednesday after a near one-month low as the weather forecasts showed higher-than-expected temperatures, which in turn could raise the demand for air conditioning.
As quoted in the market news:

The front-month August natural gas contract was up 1.5 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $2.7310 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The market has been largely range-bound between $2.50 and $3 since late January and traded in an even tighter range throughout most of June. Prices settled Tuesday at their lowest level since June 8.
Overall, U.S. weather forecasts are largely temperate, with normal conditions expected over much of the U.S. in the coming days. But Commodity Weather Group said key markets in the Midwest and the eastern seaboard could see a slight bump in temperatures through mid-July.
Analysts and traders remain bearish on the market overall, with U.S. output at nearly record highs and potentially increasing once companies wind up maintenance on production infrastructure. Bearish bets by money managers such as hedge funds and other financial investors in the market outnumber bullish ones by nearly two to one.

Click here to read the full The Wall Street Journal report.