Investing.com - Natural gas futures fell on Tuesday after markets locked in gains from warm weather forecasts, sold for profits and jumped to the sidelines ahead of Thursday's weekly U.S. supply report.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in August traded at $4.454 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading, down 0.17%. The commodity hit a session high of $4.487 and a low of $4.403.
The August contract settled up 1.18% on Monday to end at $4.461 per million British thermal units.
Natural gas futures were likely to find support at $4.375 per million British thermal units, Friday's low, and resistance at $4.608, Thursday's high.
Natural gas prices rose earlier as seasonably warm summer weather settled in over much of the U.S., though a tropical system could shoot up alongside the eastern seaboard and cool off the region with showers and cloudy weather.
Demand for natural gas tends to rise in the summer months as warmer temperatures increase the need for gas-fired electricity to power air conditioning.
High pressure over the U.S. will bring very warm to hot temperatures over the western and southern U.S. in the coming week, with warm temperatures also settling in over the Ohio Valley and Northeast, Natgasweather.com reported in its July 1-7 weather forecast summary.
A weather system bringing rain and cooler air will push into the central and eventually eastern U.S., though high pressure to the west will heat up California and drive demand for cooling.
Changes could be in store, however.
"Tropical convection off the Florida coast may develop into a tropical storm and track north along the Atlantic coast with showers and thunderstorms this weekend," Natgasweather.com report.
The National Hurricane Center upgraded the system to Tropical Storm Arthur earlier Tuesday.
Still, natural gas prices didn't plummet, as summertime temperatures will return soon.
"After the northern U.S. weather system weakens, temperatures will again surge into the 80s and 90s over the Midwest and Northeast by early next week," Natgasweather.com reported.
Elsewhere, investors braced for Thursday's weekly supply report.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its last weekly report on Thursday that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ended June 20 rose by 110 billion cubic feet, above forecasts for an increase of 102 billion cubic feet.
The five-year average build for the week is 81 billion.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 1.829 trillion cubic feet. Stocks were 690 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 822 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.651 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
Natural gas stockpiles have grown by more than 100 billion cubic feet for seven consecutive weeks, a record streak since 1994.
Producers would need to add approximately 2.6 trillion cubic feet to storage by November 1 to meet typical winter demand, according to analysts.
Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in August were down 0.36% at $105.00 a barrel, while heating oil for August delivery were down 0.03% at $2.9744 per gallon.